RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A trial is set to begin in a lawsuit filed by women's health groups seeking to overturn restrictions on abortion providers in Virginia.
The lawsuit is among legal challenges filed in at least a dozen states over what abortion-rights groups call Targeted Restrictions on Abortion Providers.
The trial is scheduled to begin Monday in federal court in Richmond as a handful of states have recently passed tough new anti-abortion laws, including Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio and Kentucky.
The lawsuit challenges four Virginia laws, including a physician-only law that bars nurse practitioners and physician's assistants from performing first-trimester abortions.
Another law requires women seeking an abortion to undergo an ultrasound at least 24 hours before it is performed.
The case will be decided by a judge, not a jury.
