Alabama to Pay Hefty Legal Fees Over Blocked Abortion Law
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – A federal judge has ordered Alabama to pay more than $675,000 to lawyers for abortion clinics who successfully challenged the state’s attempt to ban an abortion procedure.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson on Friday ordered Alabama to pay $675,964 in legal fees. The state is responsible for the legal fees after the 2016 law was struck down as unconstitutional.
The law sought to ban the second-trimester abortion procedure known as dilation and evacuation. Abortion clinics filed a lawsuit and a judge ruled the ban unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court in June refused to hear the state’s appeal.
The lawsuit also successfully challenged a law blocking clinics near schools.
The case is separate from an ongoing lawsuit over a 2019 Alabama law that attempts to ban abortion entirely.
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