FILE: A sign is displayed at Planned Parenthood of Utah Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2019, in Salt Lake City. (Rick Bowmer/AP)
SALT LAKE CITY — Planned Parenthood Association of Utah (PPAU) is trying to stop Utah’s latest abortion law.
PPAU has filed a new motion challenging HB 467, the new law that de-licenses the state’s abortion clinics starting May 3rd and forbids any new such clinics from opening. Abortions remain legal in Utah until 18 weeks of pregnancy. The new law requires legal abortions be performed in hospitals.
“This is a very cruel law,” said PPAU CEO Sarah Stoesz. “And it bans women from seeking care at licensed health centers like Planned Parenthood.
The group, together with the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah (ACLU Utah) is seeking an injunction against the law.
“If this ban takes effect, it will create insurmountable obstacles for people needing care. So, to call this dangerous is just an understatement. People’s lives will be at risk,” Stoesz said.
Lawyers for the groups argued that it violates several provisions of Utah’s Constitution, just as Utah’s trigger ban does.
“This violates the rights to determine one’s own family composition, the right to bodily integrity, the right to privacy, and the robust right to gender equality that are all protected under Utah’s Constitution,” said Hanna Swenson, senior staff attorney at Planned Parenthood Federation of America during a press event Monday.
The groups argue shifting care to hospitals isn’t the best solution.
“Hospitals are very expensive, this is not the sort of thing they do on a day-to-day basis,” the groups say. They say that 95% of abortions happen in licensed clinics.
There are no realistic alternative locations for Utahns to continue to get this really essential health care.
One of the sponsors of HB 467, Utah Sen. Dan McCay, joined KSL NewsRadio for his reaction.
“They read the constitution differently than I do,” he said.
You can hear his comments in their entirety below.
The law doesn’t shut down Planned Parenthood, just their ability to provide elective abortions. Their clinics also provide many other women’s health services.