Washington D.C., Feb 20, 2023 / 15:58 pm
Last Friday the Utah House of Representatives passed some of the strongest pro-life legislation advanced since the reversal of Roe v. Wade. If passed by the state’s Senate and signed into law, the measures effectively would shut down abortion clinics that only offer abortion and would also help victims of rape and incest.
The two bills passed the Utah House in strictly party-line votes, 53-14.
Though Utah has pro-life supermajorities in both houses of the Legislature, abortion is currently legal in Utah until 18 weeks of pregnancy. A “trigger law” was passed in 2020 to go into effect with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The law would ban abortion through all stages of pregnancy, but it remains blocked in the courts due to a legal challenge by Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and the Utah chapter of the ACLU.
The first bill, sponsored by Rep. Karianne Lisonbee, a Republican, prohibits abortions outside of hospitals and bans clinics that only offer abortion.