Alaska governor vetoes expanded birth control access as a judge strikes down abortion limits

Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has vetoed a bill to expand birth control access, while a judge struck down decades-old restrictions on who could perform abortions in the state. The competing developments came Wednesday. The Republican governor’s veto stunned supporters of the measure, which would have forced insurance companies to cover up to a year’s supply of birth control at a time, something considered especially important in providing access in distant rural communities. Meanwhile, Alaska Superior Court Judge Josie Garton found unconstitutional a state law that said only a doctor licensed by the State Medical Board can perform an abortion in Alaska.