New bill banning most abortions in Utah to be released
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A new measure to ban most abortions in Utah could be released as early as Friday, but 2News has a sense of what it will say, and how it could take effect.
The sponsor, Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, said the bill would prohibit abortions except for cases of rape, incest, or to protect the life and health of the mother, and would be triggered by rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court.
McCay says:
It will basically say, if the Supreme Court upholds that abortions can be banned at the state level, then we will ban them.I believe it is absolutely important that we protect the sanctity of life. You cannot allow society to accept the killing of its unborn, you just can’t.
McCay said he has “a lot of support” from people in his district, he says he is also certain the debate “will be heated,” but urged people to look at the policy and “make a positive statement for the unborn in Utah.”
Planned Parenthood said it has not seen the bill and will speak to it once it reads specifics, but said it is committed to “quality, compassionate reproductive care, including abortion care.
“It is important that abortion remain a safe and legal medical procedure for Utahns to consider if or when they need it,” said a statement from Planned Parenthood’s marketing manager Katrina Barker.
An ACLU spokesperson said it will “vigorously oppose” the measure.
If the bill is revealed soon, it would come just days after the annual March for Life, in which demonstrators packed the Capitol rotunda urging protection for the lives of the unborn.
