NC Republicans ask judge to reinstate 20-week abortion ban

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 the execution of the ban based on precedents set in Roe v. Wade and an associated 1992 Supreme Court ruling, both struck down on June 24.