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Alabama Senate passes ban on abortion procedure, Phil Campbell recovering after 2011 Tornado

A bill to prohibit a commonly used second-trimester abortion procedure has advanced in the Alabama Legislature.

The Senate voted 30-2 today for Republican Sen. Phil Williams' bill. A companion bill in the House has passed out of committee.

The legislation would prohibit a procedure called dilation and evacuation, or "D&E." The bill would allow the procedure in the event of a "serious health risk to the mother."

The bill's supporters describe the procedure as "heinous" and "barbaric."

Democratic Sen. Rodger Smitherman says he doesn't support the procedure but believes the "root" of the issue is personal choice.

The University of South Alabama’s Mitchell Cancer Institute held a groundbreaking ceremony today for its new Fairhope facility to serve Baldwin County and beyond.

The new institute will be tailored to creating a warm atmosphere and will feature easier parking access. It will also help the Institute to move toward National Cancer Institute designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Michael Finan* is the director of the Mitchell Cancer Institute. He says the new facility will help the institute improve its research capabilities.

“The other thing that is mandatory for NCI designation is participation in basic and translational research. So we’re also looking for a cure for cancer through our basic and translational research trying to find new ways to treat it, new ways to fight it, and new ways to attack cancer.”

Dr. Finan would also like to particularly welcome cancer survivors to the ceremony, which is open to the public.

Areas across the state will be remembering those lost in the tornado outbreak of April 27th 2011 tomorrow.

One of the communities hit hardest was the small northwest Alabama town of Phil Campbell. The tornado that came through there nearly destroyed the entire town. 

Merrell Potter is Phil Campbell’s police chief. He says since the storms he has felt a sense of camaraderie among the residents that hasn’t been there in a long time…

“Neighbors became neighbors, that is something we haven’t seen in a while and what’s great about that is that feeling has lingered on and neighbors that became neighbors are still neighbors and this is awesome to see people out in their yards working with each other and talking with each other and being a neighborhood town again.”

To learn more about the recovery in Phil Campbell and other efforts of the state go to A-P-R-DOT-org to listen to A-P-R’s eight part series on the fifth anniversary of the April 27th, 2011 storms.

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