Alaska Owes Nearly $1 Million in Legal Fees

Over Failed Anti-Choice Crusade

Alaska joins a growing list of states where taxpayers are footing costly legal bills over failed anti-choice restrictions pushed by Republican legislators.

Alaska taxpayers are on the hook for $995,000 in legal fees for a lawsuit that found the state’s Republican-supported parental notification measure unconstitutional.

The Alaska Supreme Court in July struck down the measure, which was enacted through a 2010 ballot initiative. Its sponsors included state Sen. Mia Costello (R-Anchorage) and Kim Hummer-Minnery, whose husband, as the Associated Press reported, heads the anti-choice group Alaska Family Council, an offshoot of Focus on the Family.

The measure required those younger than 18 to notify a parent or guardian 48 hours before receiving abortion care.

Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands and two doctors had sued to block to law, and the Supreme Court held in July that the measure violates minors’ right to equal protection under the Alaska Constitution.

See what other states owe: https://rewire.news/article/2016/10/25/alaska-owes-nearly-1-million-in-legal-fees-over-failed-anti-choice-crusade/