- Planned Parenthood is suing Utah's Governor and Attorney General to stop a "trigger law" abortion ban.
- The ban took effect Friday after Roe vs. Wade was overturned, forcing clinics to cancel appointments.
- Utah's law makes elective abortion a second degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah is suing to stop the state's "trigger law" abortion ban that took effect on Friday following the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The Utah law makes abortions, with limited exceptions, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
In the lawsuit filed Saturday, Planned Parenthood argues the Utah ban, which provides exceptions in cases of rape, incest, and the life or health of the mother, is a violation of equal protection rights and the right to due process and bodily integrity. Planned Parenthood is seeking a restraining order to prevent enforcement of the law from taking place while the suit plays out in court.
"Utahns harmed by this extreme abortion ban will include women who seek care just days or weeks after discovering a missed period; those who are already struggling to pull their children out of poverty, finish school, escape an abusive partner, or overcome addiction; sexual assault survivors who, as is common, do not report their assault to law enforcement; and families grieving fetal diagnoses that they know they are ill-equipped to cope with," the suit read.
Already, the lawsuit added, the three Planned Parenthood abortion clinics in the state have had to cancel more than 50 previously scheduled abortion appointments in response to the trigger law taking effect.
"Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated a federal constitutional right. In one terrible moment, Roe v. Wade was overturned, and Utahns' power to control their own bodies, lives, and personal medical decisions was threatened," Karrie Galloway, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, said in a statement announcing the lawsuit. "Yesterday's decision was devastating, but Planned Parenthood will never stop standing with and fighting for the rights of our patients and providers. Not now, not ever."
Utah's abortion ban was passed as a "trigger law" in 2020 that would only go into effect if Roe v. Wade was overturned. Once the Supreme Court's ruling was released on Friday, the state's legislative general counsel certified the decision and abortions became illegal.
A person who seeks or performs an illegal abortion in Utah may be fined $10,000 and sentenced to between one and 15 years in prison.
Utah's Attorney General Sean Reyes, who is named as a defendant in the suit, said in a statement to the Salt Lake Tribune on Friday that the Supreme Court's decision is "clear" and he is prepared to face legal pushback over the state law. Reyes did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
"It has returned the question of abortion to the states. And the Utah legislature has answered that question," Reyes said in the statement. "My office will do its duty to defend the state law against any and all potential legal challenges."
Governor Spencer Cox and the head of Utah's Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing were also listed as defendants in the suit. Cox did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
"If left in place, the Criminal Abortion Ban will be catastrophic for Utahns," the lawsuit read. "The Act will force some Utahns seeking abortion to instead carry pregnancies to term against their will, with all of the physical, emotional, and financial costs that entails."
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