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SALT LAKE CITY — Abortion care will remain legal in Utah, for now, after the Utah Supreme Court allowed a preliminary injunction that has been blocking the Legislature's near-total abortion ban to remain in place.
Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and Utah Democrats celebrated the ruling Thursday, while Republicans condemned the decision and a top lawmaker pushed for a special session to amend the law currently allowing abortions through 18 weeks of pregnancy.
It's the second time in less than a month a ruling from the state's highest court has scrambled lawmakers, after the Supreme Court said the Legislature overreached in changing a 2018 citizen ballot initiative creating an independent redistricting commission.
A joint statement from Gov. Spencer Cox and Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson said they were "disappointed by the Supreme Court's ruling that will further delay implementation of laws designed to protect some of the most vulnerable members of our state."
"We are hopeful that this decision will be a temporary setback and the laws will take effect following resolution of the case," the statement said. "We are grateful for the state's current restriction on abortions after 18 weeks. Regardless of this outcome, our administration will continue to fight for all Utahns, including the unborn."
What the Supreme Court said
The case will continue in the lower courts after the 4-1 ruling was released Thursday. The majority opinion, authored by Associate Chief Justice John A. Pearce, said Planned Parenthood Association of Utah has standing to sue the state over Utah's so-called trigger ban, SB174, and said the district court "did not err when it concluded that PPAU had raised serious issues about the constitutionality of SB174."
"The court did not abuse its discretion when it concluded that PPAU and its patients would be irreparably harmed without the injunction," Pearce wrote. "Likewise, the court did not abuse its discretion when it concluded that the balance of harms tipped in favor of enjoining SB174 while the parties litigate its constitutionality. Nor did the court act outside the bounds of its discretion when it concluded that the injunction would not be adverse to the public interest.
"We affirm the district court's decision to enjoin the enforcement of SB174 while the litigation is pending."
SB174 bans abortion in almost all cases, with narrow exceptions in cases of rape, incest, if the fetus has a uniformly fatal abnormality or to save the life of the mother. With that law on hold, elective abortions are legal through 18 weeks of pregnancy.
Chief Justice Matthew Durrant issued the lone dissenting opinion, saying Planned Parenthood argued it would suffer economic harms if SB174 were to be enacted, but that the request for a preliminary injunction relies on the alleged harms to its patients who are seeking abortion care.
"As the majority agrees, PPAU must show that it has standing to assert these claims on its patients' behalf," Durrant wrote.
Camila Vega, a staff attorney for Planned Parenthood Federation of America who argued the case before the Supreme Court last summer, told KSL.com the majority of the court ruled correctly that Planned Parenthood has standing to pursue the case.
"It has a close relationship to those patients," she said. "It's speaking for them and so respectfully we disagree with the chief justice's dissenting opinion on that point and we do think the majority got it right. That is what all of the case law in Utah tells us."
Trigger ban sponsor seeks special session
Top legislative leaders condemned the decision by the court, with Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz and Senate President Stuart Adams accusing the justices of "undermining the constitutional authority of the Legislature to enact laws as elected representatives of the people of Utah."
Utah Sen. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, the sponsor of the original trigger ban, spoke with reporters at the Capitol Thursday, and said he wants lawmakers to convene in a special legislative session before the end of the year to amend the abortion law currently being enforced to reduce the window for legal abortions from 18 weeks of gestation to possibly six weeks.
When asked why such a bill wouldn't wind up in the same legal morass as the current legislation, McCay said Iowa, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida currently have similar bans in effect.
He called the decision a "setback for those who will lose their lives — and that is the one thing that is guaranteed from the injunction today, is that the unborn will lose their lives today because of these actions."
During a video call with reporters Thursday afternoon, Planned Parenthood Association of Utah President and CEO Kathryn Boyd said the organization has discussed a potential citizen ballot initiative to protect reproductive rights. Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, when the issue has been put directly to voters — even in deeply conservative states such as Ohio, Kansas and Kentucky — voters have passed protections for the procedure or opposed anti-abortion measures.
"I, myself, as a representative for Planned Parenthood, definitely have an appetite for that," Boyd said when asked about a possible initiative. "So, we'll see what comes."
Cox issued a statement on the possibility of a special session to institute a six-week ban, saying: "We are still reviewing the opinion and will be having discussions with the attorney general's office and legislative leadership regarding every possible option to determine the best way to proceed to protect our most vulnerable."
McCay spoke alongside leaders from several anti-abortion groups, all dressed in black in "mourning" for the estimated 6,000 "unborn babies" aborted since the trigger ban was paused in 2022. The senator said he has spoken with colleagues about convening a special session to try to sidestep the impacts of the Supreme Court ruling, but when or whether it would actually take place remains unclear.
"I am heartbroken. I am just heartbroken," said Mary Taylor, president of Pro-Life Utah. "To think that the Utah Supreme Court could place the potential financial irreparable harm of a business whose bottom line is dependent upon the killing of babies above the irreparable harm of those very same babies that are facing death every single day in the state of Utah."
Cosponsor of the trigger ban Utah House Majority Whip Karianne Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, spoke with KSL.com shortly after the decision was released and said she was "deeply disappointed that the Supreme Court sent the case back to the district court with the injunction upheld."
"Utah law continues to prohibit elective abortion after 18 weeks, as you know, but it's just unfortunate that state law reflecting Utahns' pro-life values continues to be tied up in frivolous litigation two years after the Dobbs decision," which overturned the constitutional right to abortion, Lisonbee said. "This has resulted in the deaths of thousands of unborn babies in our state."
She said she remains confident that the Legislature "will ultimately prevail on the merits of the case," and said lawmakers continue to look at "all of our options to pass pro-life policies."
Rep. Jordan Teuscher, another GOP state lawmaker from South Jordan, called the high court "activist," in response to the ruling. Asked if Republicans' response to this ruling and the redistricting ruling last month threaten to erode faith in the state courts, McCay said: "No way." He said the framers of the U.S. and state constitutions created a balance of powers in government, "and it's an awesome part of our process."
"Is it painful? Yes," he said. "Their statements are 100% consistent with legislative frustration over balance of powers between the court and between the Legislature and the governor's office. These same frustrations are being played out on the national level. You see a president in office now — President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — who are now talking about radical Supreme Court reform to try and do away with what they view as activist judges. So, I would just argue, that this is the way it's always been and — if I have anything to say about it — will always be."
Democrats, advocates celebrate 'a crucial check'
Democrats in the state argued the decision is a check on lawmakers' power, and celebrated the decision as one that protects the health and rights of women. Rep. Andrew Stoddard, D-Sandy, who is an attorney, called the ruling "a crucial check on the constitutional overreaches of the Republican supermajority" in the state house.
"This ruling highlights the importance of an independent judiciary in protecting individual rights and ensures, for now, that women in Utah have control over their personal health decisions," he said.
Boyd said the 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," she said. "Planned Parenthood Association of Utah 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."
A statement from the Democrats in the Utah House said the ruling "ensures that essential health care services remain accessible."
"Bodily autonomy is a fundamental human right," Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall said. "There is no freedom without the freedom of choice for our bodies."
Caroline Gleich, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Utah, said the court made the right call. The decision, she said, "safeguards families, freedom, and the future of everyday Utahns against the Republican agenda to exert further control over access to reproductive health care."
She said a "culture of disrespect and control" from GOP politicians is led by the party's presidential and vice presidential nominees: former President Donald Trump and Ohio Sen. JD Vance.
"Their obsession with regulating private decisions is weird and misguided, especially given the lack of women involved in making these decisions," Gleich said.
