Utah's two abortion clinics have asked a federal judge to reconsider his ruling ordering them to pay the state's attorneys fees - as much as $65,000 - stemming from the clinics' challenge to the 1993 abortion law.
In a ruling earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Dee V. Benson said the clinic's suit was a frivolous one that didn't belong in federal court. In both his ruling and statements in court, Benson said he was offended by the suit because the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on a similar Pennsylvania law made it clear that Utah's law is constitutional.The clinic's New York lawyers, in turn, have called Benson's comments "an outrage."
In his ruling, Benson repeatedly chided the clinics for their weak case, saying they had proved none of the things they promised him they could prove.
"Clearly we touched some nerve with him that had nothing to do with the law," said Eve Gartner, attorney with the Center for Reproductive Law & Policy.
Benson's requirement that the clinics pay the state's fees is a form of sanction judges use to discipline a plaintiff or defendant they think has acted improperly.
The state's attorneys fees will likely top $65,000, said Palmer DePaulis, spokesman for Utah Attorney General Jan Graham.
"We shouldn't have been sanctioned like this under any circumstances," Gartner said.
If Benson refuses to reconsider his decision, the clinics will appeal it to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, she said. "This order will not stand up."
If it does stand up, Gartner declined to say whether the clinics or her center will have to pay the $65,000.
"This order is so outrageous that I can't even begin to talk about who will pay the fees. It is clear to me that no one has to pay them," she said.
In their motion for reconsideration, the clinics pointed to recent federal court decisions that took similar lawsuits seriously.
On Feb. 7, U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter said it was proper to test the constitutionality of laws requiring women to wait before obtaining an abortion, the motion says.