Arkansas seeking rehearing in 12-week abortion ban case

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Arkansas Attorney General's Office is seeking a rehearing before the U.S. appeals court that agreed last month with a lower court that a state law unconstitutionally burdens women by banning abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy if a doctor can detect a fetal heartbeat.

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed a 19-page petition Wednesday seeking a rehearing before the entire 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court sided May 27 with doctors who challenged the law, ruling that abortion restrictions must be based on a fetus' ability to live outside the womb, not the presence of a fetal heartbeat that can be detected weeks earlier.

A message seeking comment left after hours with the Arkansas American Civil Liberties Union, which represented the doctors, was not immediately returned.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/0498a4a6cfd048a19a76cc08c050914e/arkansas-seeking-rehearing-12-week-abortion-ban-case

[Proud Liberal Dem]

1. How much money do States allocate for all of these legal challenges

trying to defend laws that keep getting struck down due to being unconstitutional? Are there any limits to how much they can spend on legal defense? You would think that at some point somebody *might* question whether they are using taxpayer monies responsibly?

[sinkingfeeling]

2. Rutlege is the least qualified AG in the country, but she's a Tea Party sweetheart.