The Utah Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an injunction blocking the state’s near-total abortion ban, upholding a law allowing abortions up to 18 weeks of pregnancy while litigation continues.
The 4-1 decision by the female-majority Supreme Court is a blow to anti-abortion Republicans in the state Legislature, but it is not the final decision on abortion rights in Utah. It only affects decisions by district courts that previously blocked the law.
Litigation over the law’s constitutionality continues in lower courts, and the state could still prevail.
Utah’s ban was passed in 2020 as a “trigger law” and would have gone into effect if the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The law bans all abortions except in cases of rape, incest, a grave risk to the mother’s health or if two maternal-fetal medicine physicians determine the fetus has a fatal defect or severe brain abnormality.
Under the law, anyone who performs an abortion without a license can be charged with a felony and risk fines and up to 15 years in prison.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah and Planned Parenthood of Utah (PPAU) filed a lawsuit arguing that the law was unconstitutional, and a district court temporarily blocked the law before it could go into effect.
The state challenged the block, arguing that the PPAU had no legal standing to challenge the constitutionality of the law on behalf of patients.
In Thursday’s decision, the majority made it clear that it was not ruling on the merits of Planned Parenthood’s claims, only whether the lower court was right to issue the injunction.
“The district court did not abuse its discretion,” Associate Chief Justice John Pierce wrote in the majority opinion, all of whose judges are Republican appointees.
The PPAU has the right to sue,[the trigger law’s] “Constitutionally,” the justices wrote. “We affirm the district court’s judgment and uphold the preliminary injunction while PPAU is litigating.”
In a statement, the PPAU celebrated the verdict but warned that more will be coming soon.
“Today’s ruling means patients can come to us, their trusted health care provider, to receive abortions and other essential reproductive services here in Utah. We celebrate this victory, but we know the fight is not over,” Katherine Boyd, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Utah, said in a statement.
Boyd added that the group “hopes to see this unconstitutional law permanently repealed so that we can continue to provide quality, affordable health care to Utahns without political interference.”
Abortion opponents said they were deeply disappointed by the ruling but hoped the substance of the case would lead to a different outcome.
“Today’s decision is a harsh reminder that our society has strayed far from the moral compass that once guided us,” Pro-Life Utah Executive Director Mary Taylor said in a joint statement with the Utah Eagle Forum and the Abortion Free Utah Coalition.
“We are hopeful that this case will be a success for life. This law is the will of the people and it is clear that unborn children deserve to be protected,” said Katie Daniel, state policy director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. “Utah is a pro-life state that cares for unborn children and their mothers.”
