North Dakota panel votes against abortion clinic-zoning bill

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A Republican-led North Dakota Senate panel has refused to endorse a bill prohibiting any new abortion clinics from opening within 30 miles of a school. The bill also aimed to bar the state’s sole abortion clinic in downtown Fargo from expanding. The Senate Political Subdivisions Committee on Thursday gave the bill a “do-not-pass” recommendation, after some of the panel members worried it would not survive an expensive court challenge. The bill now goes to the full Senate for consideration. The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood called the measure unjustified, unreasonable and likely unconstitutional.