BISMARCK, N.D. —
North Dakota has spent more than $52,000 defending a 2011 state law that seeks to limit the use of drugs to terminate pregnancies, according to records obtained by The Associated Press.
On Tuesday, the North Dakota Attorney General's office is expected to ask the state's Emergency Commission for $30,000 to help cover the costs.
Records show that Dr. Donna Harrison has billed the state more than $49,000 to act as an expert witness in the case. Harrison, the president the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, testified in April at a trial over a lawsuit challenging the law.
In its lawsuit, the Red River Women's Clinic argued that outlawing one of two drugs used in medication abortions would in essence eliminate the procedure altogether and illegally restrict abortion rights in North Dakota. East Central Judge Wickham Corwin agreed, saying he plans to rule in favor of the clinic, which is North Dakota's lone abortion provider.
Corwin, who had already granted an injunction preventing the law from taking effect, called the legislation "simply wrongheaded." He said he would issue a written opinion this month.
Lawyers for the state said they would appeal if Corwin rules against them. Abortion rights advocates said it's a preview of things to come after lawmakers this session passed four laws that would make it harder to get an abortion in North Dakota than in any other state.
North Dakota lawmakers have allocated $400,000 that was requested by Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to defend against any lawsuits that arise from new state laws passed this year, including one that bans abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected, which could be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy and before some women even know they're pregnant.
In addition to the fetal heartbeat bill, Gov. Jack Dalrymple has signed a measure that would ban abortions because a fetus has a genetic defect such as Down syndrome, and one requiring a doctor who performs abortions to be a physician with hospital-admitting privileges. Another bill that would outlaw abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy based on the disputed premise that a fetus can feel pain by that point. All of the new laws were designed to take effect Aug 1.
Supporters of the measures said their goal is to challenge the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that legalized abortion until the point in a pregnancy in which the fetus could viably survive outside the womb, which is generally at 22 to 24 weeks.
Opponents of the legislation believe the laws to be unconstitutional and have promised a costly legal fight.
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