A federal court trial begins Monday over an Alabama abortion law that proponents say will make abortions safer and opponents say will close three of Alabama's five licensed abortion clinics.
The trial in Montgomery stems from a 2013 law that requires doctors at abortion clinics to have approval to admit patients to nearby hospitals. The clinics in Mobile, Montgomery and Birmingham say they will have to close because they use traveling doctors who can't sec8ure such admitting privileges.
Proponents of the law say it will make abortions safer. Opponents say it's unneeded and will reduce access to abortion.
Similar laws in Wisconsin and Mississippi are on hold because of legal challenges. But a federal appeals court recently upheld similar requirements in Texas.