Arkansas to pay $25K in fees for abortion law appeal

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Arkansas to pay more than $25,000 in attorney's fees and costs for its unsuccessful bid to have the U.S. Supreme Court revive a 12-week abortion ban.

U.S. District Susan Webber Wright on Friday ordered the state to pay $24,780 in attorney's fees and $748 in costs for its unsuccessful petition before the nation's highest court on the law. Wright struck down the law as unconstitutional in 2014 and a federal appeals court panel upheld Wright's decision last year.

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the state's appeal of the lower court rulings in January. The state had previously been ordered to pay more than $97,000 in attorney's fees and costs following the lower court rulings.

Arkansas' Republican-led Legislature approved the ban in 2013.

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The Gayly - 3/11/2016 @ 4:53 p.m. CST