States ask US Supreme Court to hear Alabama abortion case

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Twenty-one states are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to let Alabama ban a commonly used second trimester abortion procedure.

The states filed a brief with the high court Monday asking justices to review the constitutionality of the Alabama law that was blocked by lower courts. Justices haven’t said if they’ll hear the case.

The 2016 law banned the procedure known as dilation and evacuation abortions, in which the fetus is removed in pieces with forceps. State politicians used the nonmedical term “dismemberment abortion” to describe the procedure.

A federal judge ruled the procedure ban was an unconstitutional restriction on abortion access. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision.

Several states supporting Alabama, including Kansas, Louisiana and Texas, have tried to enact similar restrictions.