A Utah district court judge will hear arguments on Friday against a state law that reproductive rights groups say will all but ban abortion in the state when it goes into effect on 3 May, despite the fact that abortion is legal in the state until 18 weeks of pregnancy.
The law, HB 467, which passed in March, requires abortions to be performed at hospitals instead of clinics, threatening the state’s four abortion clinics with closure. The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah and the ACLU of Utah are challenging the law, asking for a temporary injunction. According to PPAU, licensed clinics perform approximately 95% of the procedures that take place in the deep-red state.
