NEW ORLEANS - Lawyers who won a decision overturning a Louisiana abortion law say the state should pay them $4.7 million in fees and expenses.
 
Lawyers representing abortion clinics have asked a Baton Rouge federal judge to approve the amount. The judge Thursday gave the state's lawyers three weeks to respond.
 
A motion filed Wednesday says 16 attorneys, clerks and paralegals put in about 6,900 hours of work over three years. They say that adds up to $4.5 million worth of work, plus $187,000 for expenses including travel and research.
 
The law would have required doctors who perform abortions to have permission to admit patients to a hospital within 30 miles of their clinic. U.S. District Judge John deGravelles said it was unconstitutional under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against a similar Texas law.