SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, June 27, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) – A Utah judge has issued a temporary restraining order blocking implementation of SB174, the state’s so-called Abortion Prohibition Amendments law, which criminalizes abortion, with rare exceptions, for females living in the Beehive State.
The TRO was ordered Monday afternoon by Salt Lake County 3rd District Judge Andrew Stone. His ruling was in response to a lawsuit filed Saturday against the State of Utah by the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah, and the Salt Lake City law firm of Zimmerman Booher.
According to the PPAU lawsuit, and explained in a statement by the ACLU, “the Utah Constitution protects pregnant Utahns’ right to determine when and whether to have a family, and to determine what happens with their own bodies and lives. The suit maintains the rights promised under the Utah Constitution are more expansive than those under federal law, and remain unaffected by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision.”
The lawsuit said the temporary restraining order was needed, along with “preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting Defendants and their officers, employees, servants, agents, appointees, or successors from administering, preparing for, and enforcing the Act with respect to any abortion provided during the temporary and permanent injunctions.”
Planned Parent Association of Utah says it filed the suit “on behalf of itself and its patients, physicians, and staff.”
The temporary restraining order will remain in effect for at least 14 days to give attorneys on both sides time to prepare for the case moving forward.
Following Judge Stone’s decision, the PPUA issued the following statement: “Abortion services can resume in Utah! A Utah court just blocked the state’s abortion ban, which took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“While this is a win, it’s only the first step in the long fight ahead.”
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