Judge puts hold on North Dakota trigger law banning abortion

By DAVE KOLPACK
Associated Press

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota judge has put on hold the state’s trigger law banning abortion pending resolution of a lawsuit that argues the law violates the state constitution. The state’s attorney general responded by immediately starting the clock on another 30-day countdown. Burleigh County District Judge Bruce Romanick ruled Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by Red River Women’s Clinic in Fargo, the state’s only abortion clinic. The ban was set to take effect on Thursday. The clinic argued that Wrigley moved too soon in calculating the 30 days that had to pass to activate the ban, by deciding it began when the Supreme Court ruled. They argued that it could not start until the ruling was certified, a technical step that happened Tuesday.