ND senate OKs bill regulating abortion providers

"We owe it to North Dakota women," he said.

Similar legislation passed in Mississippi in 2012. The only abortion clinic in that state is at risk of shutting down because it hasn't been able to comply with the law.

Admitting privileges can be hard to get. Kromenaker said some hospitals require that doctors admit a certain number of patients to the hospital each year. A physician working at the clinic isn't likely to reach any threshold, she said.

"Honestly, abortion is so safe, we just don't admit patients to the hospital," she said.

Not every anti-abortion bill passed the Senate, however. One that would have punished people who failed to provide "the ethical treatment of human embryos" failed. Critics said it could have prevented couples from using in-vitro fertilization.

___

Hunt contributed from Sioux Falls, S.D.

Follow James MacPherson on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/macphersonja