By Dave Andrusko
Third District Judge Andrew Stone granted a request from Planned Parenthood Association of Utah to issue a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of Utah’s “trigger law,” which ended nearly all abortions when Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24.
The effect is that, for now, after a temporary stoppage, abortions can once again be performed.
“There is irreparable harm,” Judge Stone said, that could be done without the order in place. Stone added, “We are looking at to what extent the people of Utah have granted the legislature regulatory power over personal autonomy, reproductive decisions, decisions of consciousness, to what extent it disproportionately impacts women in the state.” He concluded, “I think the immediate effects that will occur outweigh any policy interests of the state in stopping abortions immediately. Doctors here are threatened with felonies. The affected women are deprived of safe, local medical treatments to terminate pregnancies.”
The order, which went into effect immediately, will last 14 days, Stone said in a virtual court hearing Monday afternoon. The next court date was set for July 11
The lawsuit takes the position that “the state ban violates several provisions in the State Constitution, including the right to determine family compassion and the right to equality between the sexes,” according to the New York Times.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes told the Salt Lake Tribune on Friday that Supreme Court ruling was “clear,” adding that he would be ready to defend the trigger law against legal action.
“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.”
In her story, Becky Jacobs explained what happened at the hearing:
Attorney Tyler Green, who represented the state, said he hadn’t had time to submit all of the state’s arguments, due to how quickly this case has moved. But Green pointed out that none of the sections of the Utah constitution that Planned Parenthood referred to in the lawsuit specifically mention the word “abortion.”
For instance, Colorado passed a law earlier this year guaranteeing the right to an abortion in state code, Green said, while “nothing like that” appears in Utah’s laws. …
Green also argued that “the Supreme Court has been clear that states have strong interests in protecting the life of its unborn citizens and the integrity and ethics of its medical professions. … And an injunction or a TRO [temporary restraining order] of the type that’s requested here would work the same harms to the state that I think the plaintiffs are concerned about suffering without one.”
Sen. Dan McCay, who sponsored the trigger law, said on Twitter Monday, “I’m confident that Utah’s abortion ban will be upheld, and we can work to support life.”
Last Friday, Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said in a statement, “We wholeheartedly support this Supreme Court ruling and are encouraged to see abortion law will be left to elected state representatives. As pro-life advocates, this administration is equally committed to supporting women and families in Utah. We all need to do more to support mothers, pregnant women, and children facing poverty and trauma.”