A US federal judge Friday ordered the state of Louisiana to pay a USD 3.8 million settlement for legal fees to the Center for Reproductive Rights and law firms who challenged the state’s abortion restrictions on doctors in June Medical Services LLC et al v. Courtney Phillips.

In June Medical Services, the plaintiffs challenged seven Louisiana abortion restrictions that were passed in 2016. This lawsuit included the challenge of a measure that tripled the state’s mandatory delay for women seeking abortion from 24 to 72 hours. They also challenged a measure banning “the most common method of second-trimester abortion.” The US Supreme Court held in 2020 that a state law that placed hospital-admission requirements on abortion clinics’ doctors was unconstitutional due to the undue burden it imposed.

The settlement grants USD 3.8 million “for attorneys’ fees, expenses, or costs arising from the initiation and prosecution of the Litigation.” Additionally, the settlement states that “[i]f the terms of the Agreement are met, Claimants agree that they will not seek any further attorneys’ fees, costs, or expenses in this Litigation.”