A Utah judge has blocked the state’s new abortion ban after abortion company Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit to kill babies in abortions. That late Friday, John L. Fellows, the general counsel to the Utah legislature, wrote a letter that the trigger law in Utah is now in effect and that abortions are banned in the state — except in very rare cases, such as rape. Or incest, when the baby is severely disabled or to avoid the mother’s death. AifeNews reported that Utah was one of the first states to ban abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Utah SB 174, the Abortion Prohibition Amendments, was signed in 2020 by Republican government leader Gary Herbert but did not come into effect until after Roe’s overthrow.
A second law, the Down Syndrome Non-discrimination Abortion Act, signed by Herbert in 2019, will also come into full effect due to the Supreme Court’s decision. It forbids killing babies with Down syndrome in abortions.
But Planned Parenthood of Utah filed a lawsuit on Saturday to block the state’s abortion ban, and a judge this afternoon blocked it. Judge Andrew Stone sided with the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and the ACLU of Utah in a hearing Monday afternoon.
As a local news outlet reports:
A judge has issued a temporary restraining order against Utah’s abortion law. ABC4 teaches that it is in effect for 14 days and will take effect immediately.
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This is in the lawsuit between Planned Parenthood and the ACLU in Utah versus the State of Utah over the Trigger Act. This means that elective abortions are allowed again in Utah for now.
The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah filed a lawsuit in the Utah District Court on Saturday in response to the ban. It will “soon request a temporary restraining order against the state’s ban on abortion at any time during pregnancy,” according to ana American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) statement.
The state and pro-abortion lawyers are expected to return to court on July 11.
The abortion company claimed that the abortion ban violates the state constitution and that the Utah Supreme Court has “clarified that the state’s constitutional guarantees may be broader than those under federal law.”
The abortion chain wants a temporary restraining order and an interim injunction to prevent enforcement of the law.
Planned Parenthood had stopped killing babies in Utah as the lawsuit against the ban continues, saying it had “no choice but to stop performing abortions” after the law went into effect, and had appointments Saturday canceled for about a dozen patients who had scheduled procedures.
As LifeNews reported, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, holding a 6-3 majority decision in the Dobbs case that “the Constitution does not grant the right to abortion” — allowing states to ban abortions and protect unborn babies. The Supreme Court also ruled 6-3 to uphold Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, allowing states to restrict abortions further and remove the false viability standard.
Chief Justice John Roberts technically voted for the verdict but, in his opinion, disagreed with the reasoning, saying he wanted to keep abortion legal but with a new standard.
Texas and Oklahoma had banned abortions before Roe was destroyed and Missouri became the first state after Roe to protect babies from abortions, and South Dakota became the 2nd. Then Arkansas became the third state to protect babies from abortion, Kentucky became 4th, Louisiana became 5th, Ohio became 6th, Utah became 7th, Oklahoma became 8th, and Alabama became 9th. Today Mississippi became 10th.
Ultimately, as many as 26 states could immediately or expeditiously ban abortions and protect babies from certain death for the first time in nearly 50 years.
The 13 states with trigger laws that would effectively ban all or most abortions are Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
“Abortion poses a profound moral question. The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of any state from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey have usurped that authority. We now reject those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives,” Alito wrote.
“Roe was wrong from the start. The reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences,” Alito wrote. “And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have fueled debate and deepened divisions.”
This is a milestone for the Pro-Life movement and our entire nation. After nearly 50 years of staining the moral fabric of our country, Roe v. Wade is no more.
Judges Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Stephen Breyer wrote a joint dissent condemning the decision to allow states to impose “draconian” restrictions on women.
Polls show that Americans support abortion.
