This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
If someone directly challenges Roe v. Wade . . .
And if the U.S. Supreme Court reverses more than 30 years of legal precedent . . .
State Rep. Paul Ray wants Utah to be ready.
Ray is sponsoring a so-called "trigger law" that would go into effect if the landmark abortion rights case is overturned. House Bill 235 would ban all abortions except in cases of rape, incest or to prevent a woman's death or "serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function."
"Utah's a conservative state," says the Clearfield Republican, chairman of the House Health and Human Services Committee. "The people here have an ideal of protecting children - that's also unborn children."
A recent opinion poll backs him up. The Salt Lake Tribune asked 600 Utah voters days before the Utah Legislature convenes Monday if they supported banning elective abortion. Three out of four questioned by Virginia-based Mason-Dixon Polling and Research said they would.
The results left Planned Parenthood President Karrie Galloway's jaw hanging.
"I don't think most people thought about their answer," Galloway said. "With these types of moral issues, there are always contrasts in black and white. People vote viscerally. I don't think the people of Utah believe that. I truly don't."
But Kelly Patterson, director of Brigham Young University's Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy, said the results are not surprising. Utahns are overwhelmingly conservative and the majority are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Besides that, the poll question is based on a situation that might not happen any time soon, if at all. Those who answered the poll probably gave their gut reactions.
"A large proportion of the population has questions about the circumstances under which abortion should be allowed," Patterson said. "It's an easy one to say 'yes' to."
Responses might have changed if the poll question had included the exact language of Ray's legislation, he added.
Ray's bill is modeled on similar legislation South Dakota voters rejected earlier this year. That law was meant to test the 1973 Supreme Court decision that granted women the right to legally end a pregnancy. But South Dakota's bill did not include exceptions for incest, rape and the health of the mother.
"I would have issues if we didn't consider those exceptions," said Ray.
Along with Utah, legislators in a handful of other states are contemplating similar legislation this year. Ray said he believes Utah lawmakers should discuss whether to challenge Roe directly.
"I'm looking at it. That's not something I'm terribly set on doing right now," he said. "But it's something we have to look at."
Ray has become a point man on Capitol Hill for abortion legislation. Last year, he unsuccessfully sponsored a bill requiring doctors to inform women seeking abortions before 20 weeks gestation that their unborn fetuses feel pain. He said he will wait to reintroduce that bill another year.
But Planned Parenthood Action Council Director Missy Larsen still questions why Ray would take up valuable legislative time with a bill premised on speculation - Roe's retraction.
"Why try to focus on a bad law that is based on something that is hypothetical?" Larsen asked.
Abortions in Utah
Abortions remained fairly flat even as Utah's population grew by 300,000.
Abortions by year:
* 2000: 3,279
* 2001: 3,372
* 2002: 3,300
* 2003: 3,338
* 2004: 3,379
* 2005: 3,279
Population:
* 2000: 2.25 million
* 2005: 2.55 million