NC Republicans ask judge to reinstate 20-week abortion ban

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s Republican General Assembly leaders have asked a federal judge to reinstate a 20-week abortion ban previously thrown out by courts, despite the Democratic attorney general’s refusal to seek enforcement of the ban after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned nationwide abortion protections.

Outside attorneys for Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore asked U.S. District Judge William Osteen on Wednesday to vacate his 2019 ruling that blocked execution of the 20-week ban based on precedents set in Roe v. Wade and an associated 1992 Supreme Court ruling, both struck down on June 24.

The legislative leaders say Attorney General Josh Stein, an abortion rights supporter, is unlikely to defend the 1973 state law that created the ban, even after the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization eroded the foundation for the injunction preventing it from being enforced.

“North Carolina’s abortion statutes are undeniably lawful under Dobbs, and there is no longer any basis for an injunction to shackle the state from pursuing its legitimate interests,” Berger and Moore wrote in their brief.

The Republican leaders were responding to Osteen’s request that parties in the case submit briefs by Aug. 7 that outline their positions on whether his previous ruling retains legal force after the recent Supreme Court decision. Osteen will consider lifting the injunction on the 1973 state law and may reinstate the 20-week ban without lawmaker involvement.

“It appears the injunctive relief granted in this case may now be contrary to law,” he wrote in his July 8 order.

Berger and Moore were not named parties in the case, prompting them to submit a request to have their say in the matter. As representatives of the North...