Utah bars abortions after 18 weeks while latest trigger law is debated in courts, lawmaker says

This file photo shows the Utah State Capitol, Salt Lake City, Utah, June 20, 2020 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News

SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah state representative announced Tuesday that an abortion trigger law passed in 2019 is now law while Utah courts sift through a 2020 trigger law that bans the practice of abortions altogether except in circumstances that involve rape, incest or a medical emergency.

People attend an abortion-rights protest at the Utah State Capitol, Friday, June 24, 2022, in Salt Lake City. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to end constitutional protections for abortion has cleared the way for states to impose bans and restrictions on abortion — and will set off a series of legal battles | Associated Press file photo by Rick Bowmer, St. George News

HB136, which was passed three years ago, bans elective abortions after 18 weeks with a few exceptions: “rape, incest, life of the mother, permanent impairment of the mother, fatal fetal defect and severe brain abnormality,” according to Rep. Cheryl Acton. Like the 2020 trigger law, HB136 was blocked by the Supreme Court’s previous ruling on abortions but was freed up by the court’s decision on Friday.

“As a state, Utah values human life at all ages and stages and under all circumstances,” said Acton, R-West Jordan, the bill’s primary sponsor, in a statement Tuesday. “HB136 will protect unborn children after 18 weeks’ gestation pending the outcome of SB174.”

Acton’s announcement comes a day after a Utah judge approved a temporary 14-day restraining on SB174, the trigger law that went into effect on Friday, hours after the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade case that permitted abortions.

Read the full story here:  KSL News.

Written by CARTER WILLIAMS, KSL.com.

Copyright KSL.com.

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