Alaska court awards attorney fees to Planned Parenthood

JUNEAU, Alaska – The Alaska Supreme Court has ordered the state to pay about $100,000 in attorneys’ fees and other costs after losing a legal fight earlier this year over abortion.

The figure includes $98,625 in attorneys’ fees. It also includes travel for a lawyer to give oral arguments and postage and copying costs for Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest and the Hawaiian Islands, which won the case.

In February, the court struck down as unconstitutional a state law and regulation seeking to define what constitutes medically necessary abortions for purposes of Medicaid funding.

Department of Law spokeswoman Cori Mills said by email that attorney fee awards, such as this, have to be appropriated before they are paid. She says this generally occurs as part of annual spending bills.