A federal judge is scheduled to hear closing arguments in a trial over a new Alabama law requiring doctors at abortion clinic to have approval to admit patients to nearby hospitals.
Clinic operators in Mobile, Montgomery and Birmingham say they use traveling doctors who can't get admitting privileges, and they will have to stop performing abortions if a federal judge allows the law to take effect. The state attorney general's office says enforcement of the law will make abortions safer.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson has been listening to testify since May 19. He's expected to take the case under advisement after hearing the closing arguments Monday.
Mississippi, Wisconsin and Texas have laws similar to Alabama, but Texas is the only state where it is being enforced.
