Utah judge blocks law prohibiting new abortion facilities

A judge ruled Tuesday to block a Utah law banning abortion facilities in the state. The law was slated to take effect on May 3. 

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed last month by the ACLU and Planned Parenthood. Per the law, the licensing of new abortion facilities in the state is prohibited, while current facilities must close once their licenses expire, leaving hospitals as the only facilities where abortions can be committed. The abortion leaders challenged the law on the basis that it violates the state constitution’s rights to privacy and bodily integrity.

When filing the lawsuit, the abortion businesses asked Judge Andrew Stone to place an injunction so that it would not go into effect while the suit was considered by the courts. In his ruling, Stone granted the injunction, noting that Planned Parenthood had presented enough evidence to warrant that the law “singles out” abortion facilities. 

“There is nothing before the Court to indicate that an injunction would be adverse to the public interest,” Stone said.

“The Clinic Ban places a greater burden on licensed abortion clinics by criminalizing abortions performed in such clinics despite the unrebutted evidence that abortions performed in an outpatient clinic are equally as safe as those performed in a hospital,” he wrote.

Assistant Attorney General Lance Sorenson defended the law in court last week, arguing that it is intended with the safety of women in mind.

“(Hospitals) operate under higher standards of care pursuant to the regulations,” Sorenson said. “They have better emergency care — that’s why (Planned Parenthood) transfers cases to hospitals annually for emergency care.”

Sarah Stoesz, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood’s Utah affiliate, praised the injunction, saying it “means that clinics can continue providing essential health care to our patients, who for months have lived in a state of chaos and confusion over the impact of this law on their lives.”

With the injunction, the state’s four abortion facilities will remain open. Planned Parenthood reports that 95 % of the state’s abortions take place within these facilities.

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