Terry Gensemer gestures toward a new clinic being constructed by Planned Parenthood in Birmingham, Ala., on Thursday, June 13, 2019.
The organization is working on the project despite a new state law that virtually bans abortion in Alabama.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Planned Parenthood is building the stage for another possible fight over abortion in Alabama: a large women’s clinic that’s under construction despite the state’s passage of a near-total ban on abortions.
Construction began in January and is continuing despite the Republican-controlled Legislature’s passage of a law that would outlaw abortion in the state unless the mother’s life is in peril.
Groups including Planned Parenthood have sued to block the law, which supporters hope will become the vehicle that a conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court uses to gut the 1972 Roe vs. Wade decision that legalized abortion nationwide.
It would replace the current Planned Parenthood clinic in Birmingham, where opponents say abortions haven’t been performed regularly since 2017.
Luttrell said Planned Parenthood hopes courts block the new law by the time the new clinic is ready to open. »
