Whether a state ban on dismemberment abortions is unconstitutional where there is a reasonable medical debate that alternatives to the banned procedure are safe?

QUESTION PRESENTED Like several states, Alabama prohibits “dismemberment abortion.” In a “dismemberment abortion,” a doctor “dismember[s] a living unborn child and extract[s] him or her one piece at a time from the uterus through use of clamps, grasping forceps, tongs, scissors, or similar instruments that, through the convergence of two rigid levers, slice, crush, or grasp ...a portion of the unborn child’s body to cut or rip it off.” Ala. Code § 26-23G-2(3). Dismemberment abortion is similar to partial birth abortion, which this Court has said the government can prohibit. Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U.S. 124, 133 (2007). But the court of appeals below reluctantly concluded that Alabama is prohibited from banning dismemberment abortions under this Court’s more recent abortion decisions. The question presented is: Whether a state ban on dismemberment abortions is unconstitutional where there is a reasonable medical debate that alternatives to the banned procedure are safe? ii PARTIES AND AFFILIATES Steven T. Marshall, in his official capacity Alabama Attorney General, Petitioner Scott Harris, in his official capacity as Alabama State Health Officer, Petitioner. (During the pendency of this matter, Mr. Harris replaced the former Alabama Health Officer, Thomas Miller, and is substituted as a party by operation of law.) Hays Webb, in his official capacity as District Attorney for Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Petitioner Robert L. Broussard, in his official capacity as District Attorney for Madison County, Alabama, Petitioner West Alabama Women’s Center, on behalf of itself and its patients, Respondent William J. Parker M.D., on behalf of himself and his patients, Respondent Alabama Women’s Center, Respondent Yashica Robinson White, M.D., Respondent