Alaska Gov. Dunleavy wields veto pen to attack state Supreme Court over abortion ruling

Alaska conservatives have fought for decades to block the state from paying for what they call “elective” abortions – those outside cases of rape or incest, or when the mother’s life is in danger.

But over those decades, they’ve been stymied by the Alaska Supreme Court, which has rejected their efforts on constitutional grounds — most recently in February.

Those rulings have negated lawmakers’ efforts to strip abortion-related funding from the state budget. So on Friday, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy employed a new tactic: He vetoed $335,000 from the budget of the Alaska Supreme Court.

“The legislative and executive branch are opposed to state-funded elective abortions; the only branch of government that insists on state-funded elective abortions is the Supreme Court,” Dunleavy’s administration wrote in a budget document released Friday. “The annual cost of elective abortions is reflected by this reduction.”

Read more: https://www.alaskapublic.org/2019/06/28/alaska-gov-dunleavy-wields-veto-pen-to-attack-state-supreme-court-over-abortion-ruling/