Ellison: No appeal to defend Minnesota abortion restrictions

@ap.news FILE – In this Sept. 11, 2020 file photo, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, right, addresses reporters outside the Hennepin County Family Justice Center in Minneapolis. Jury selection begins Monday, March 8, 2021, for Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer charged with murder and manslaughter in George Floyd’s death. Ellison is the lead prosecutor in the case. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison says he won’t appeal a ruling that struck down most of the state’s restrictions on abortion as unconstitutional.

Ellison said Thursday that the state has already spent enough time and money on the case and would be unlikely to win an appeal. The decision wasn’t a surprise from Ellison, a Democrat who supports abortion rights.

Abortion opponents and Republicans, including those running against him in November, had demanded he appeal and called it his duty as attorney general. The ruling this month by a Ramsey County judge nullified several restrictions passed over the years, including a mandatory 24-hour waiting period and a requirement that both parents be notified before a minor can get an abortion.