LEFT: The U.S. Supreme Court, Photo credit: Al Drago /Getty Images. RIGHT: Utah capitol, photo credit, Deseret News.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah is one of thirteen states that have enacted so-called trigger laws related to a Supreme Court ruling on the issue of abortion.
If the U.S. Supreme Court were to dismantle the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, in which the court ruled that the U.S. Constitution protects a woman’s liberty to choose abortion, Utah’s trigger law would go into effect.
SB 174, the law passed in 2020, makes it a second-degree felony to perform an abortion in Utah outside of a list of exceptions.
The law makes exceptions if the pregnancy was caused by rape or incest, if the mother’s life was at risk, or if two doctors say the fetus has a lethal defect.
Other U.S. states with trigger laws include Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.
This story will be updated.