Utah Supreme Court upholds block on near-total abortion ban

The Utah Supreme Court upheld a block on the state’s near-total abortion ban Thursday, keeping in place a law that allows abortion up to 18 weeks of pregnancy while litigation continues. 

The 4-1 ruling from the majority-woman Supreme Court is a blow to anti-abortion Republicans in the state Legislature but is not the final word on abortion access in Utah. It impacts only the district court ruling that previously blocked the law.

Litigation over the law’s constitutionality will continue in the lower court, and the state could still win the case. 

Utah’s ban was passed in 2020 as a “trigger law,” which was set to take effect once the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The law would prohibit all abortions except in cases of rape, incest or serious risk to the mother’s health, or if two maternal fetal medicine physicians found that the fetus had a lethal defect or severe brain abnormality. 

The law says anyone who performs an unauthorized abortion can be charged with a felony, which carries the risk of monetary fines and up to 15 years in prison. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah and Planned Parenthood Association of Utah (PPAU) said the law was unconstitutional and sued, and the district court temporarily blocked the law before it took effect. 

The state challenged the block and argued PPAU did not have the legal standing to challenge the constitutionality of a law on behalf of its patients. 

In Thursday’s ruling, the majority made clear they were not ruling on the merits of Planned Parenthood’s claims, only whether the lower court was correct in issuing the injunction.  

“The district court did not abuse its discretion,” Associate Chief Justice John Pearce wrote for the majority. All justices on the court were appointed by Republicans.  

PPAU has standing to sue, and “raises serious issues concerning [the trigger law’s] constitutionality,” the justices wrote. “We affirm the district court and allow the preliminary injunction to remain in place while PPAU litigates its claims.” 

In a statement, PPAU celebrated the ruling but cautioned there was more to come. 

“Today’s decision means that our patients can continue to come to us, their trusted health care providers, to access abortion and other essential reproductive services right here in Utah. While we celebrate this win, we know the fight is not over,” Kathryn Boyd, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, said in the statement.

Boyd added the group “looks forward to this unconstitutional law being permanently struck down so that we can continue to provide quality, affordable health care to Utahns, free from political interference." 

Abortion opponents said they were deeply disappointed in the ruling, but hoped for a different outcome on the merits of the case 

“The decision made today is a grim reminder that our society has strayed far from the moral compass that once guided us,” said Mary Taylor, president of Pro-Life Utah, in a joint statement with the Utah Eagle Forum and the Abortion-Free Utah Coalition. 

“We are hopeful that life will win on the merits in this case. This law is the will of the people and it is clear that the unborn deserve protections,” said Katie Daniel, the state policy director of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “Utah is a pro-life state that values babies in the womb and their mothers.”