BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - More than 60 North Dakota lawmakers want to appeal a federal judge's ruling that overturns a state law banning abortions when a fetal heartbeat can be detected.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland ruled last month that the law is "invalid and unconstitutional.''
In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Republican Rep. Bette Grande urged Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem to appeal Hovland's ruling. The letter was signed by 61 GOP lawmakers and two Democrats.
The state's only abortion clinic in Fargo filed a lawsuit in July against the measure that would ban abortions before many women know they're pregnant.
Grande says most North Dakotans support the law, which was among four anti-abortion bills Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed into law last year with overwhelming support from the state's GOP-led Legislature.