Utah’s 6-week abortion ban stays blocked pending constitutionality review

A near-total abortion ban will remain on hold in Utah after the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the law should remain blocked until a lower court can assess its constitutionality.

Democrats cheered the decision, which means that abortion will, at least for now, remain legal up to 18 weeks under another state law that has served as a fallback as abortion rights have been thrown into limbo.

The panel wrote in its opinion that the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah had legal standing to challenge the state's abortion trigger law, and that a lower court acted within its purview when it initially blocked the ban.

Their ruling only affects whether the restrictions remain on pause amid further legal proceedings and does not decide the final outcome of abortion policy in the state. The case will now be sent back to a lower court to determine whether the law is constitutional.