Herring files motion defending state abortion laws

(AP)  State Attorney General Mark Herring is asking a judge to toss out a lawsuit that seeks to overturn state laws restricting abortion rights.

Herring’s office filed the motion to dismiss July 13 in federal court in Richmond. The attorney general’s office argues that, while the abortion-rights groups that filed the lawsuit raise legitimate concerns, the issues should be addressed by the state legislature, not the courts.

Lawmakers and advocates on both sides of the abortion issue had been watching to see what Herring, a Democrat and abortion-rights supporter, would do in response to the lawsuit. In 2014, Herring refused to defend the state’s same-sex marriage ban in federal court.

Plaintiffs, including abortion clinics and the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood, say several Virginia laws limiting abortion rights are unconstitutional.