Julander, D-Salt Lake City, was still in an area hospital Wednesday with diverticulitis, according to Senate Minority Leader Mike Dmitrich, D-Price. Dmitrich said that Julander wants her husband, Rod, to take her seat. He is the former chairman of Weber State University's political science department and one-time vice chairman of the Utah Democratic Party.

Democratic delegates from District 2 will meet Saturday to choose a replacement.

"The world isn't as good as she thought it was," Rod Julander said Wednesday.

"I was hoping it wouldn't come down to this," Dmitrich said. "She's improving, but she's not capable of returning to the Senate."

Dmitrich himself missed the first week of the 2005 session while he underwent emergency surgery to remove a growth from his left lung.

Paula Julander, who served three years in the House and was in her sixth year in the Senate, is best known for pushing, albeit so far unsuccessfully, legislation to require insurance companies to cover contraceptives in prescription plans.

Senate President John Valentine said the Legislature will miss Julander. "I'll miss her friendship as well as her contribution to the Senate," he said.

Julander, who turned 66 on Jan. 21, is a former nurse and consultant. She serves on several boards, including the Career Service Review Board of the Utah Administrative Office of the Courts, the Utah Women's Forum and the Commission on Youth. She is the director of the Utah Credit Union-backed 100% For Kids Foundation, which last year gave $750,000 to Utah classrooms.