Planned Parenthood v. Utah
Plaintiffs claim that the near-total abortion ban violates the state constitution’s 1) right to determine family composition and to parent (Art. I, §§ 2, 25, and 27), 2) Equal Rights Amendment (Art. IV, § 1), 3) right to uniform operation of laws (Art. I, §§ 2, 24), 4) right to bodily integrity and privacy (Art. I, §§ 1, 7, 11), 5) right of conscience (Art. I, § 4), and 6) right to privacy (Art. I, §§ 1, 14). A trial court preliminarily blocked the ban. The defendants appealed to the Utah Supreme Court, which has kept the injunction temporarily in place pending a decision on the merits. The plaintiffs subsequently requested that the trial court also allow them to challenge the hospital-only requirement, which they claim functionally bans abortion and violates the state constitution’s 1) right to determine family composition and to parent (Art. I, §§ 2, 25, and 27), 2) Equal Rights Amendment (Art. IV, § 1), 3) right to uniform operation of laws (Art. I, §§ 2, 24), 4) right to bodily integrity and privacy (Art. I, §§ 1, 7, 11), and 5) right to privacy (Art. I, §§ 1, 14). A trial court preliminarily blocked the ban. The Utah Supreme Court upheld the preliminary injunction.
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An Eventful Summer for State Constitutional Abortion Rights Litigation
State supreme courts addressed abortion rights head on, even as the U.S. Supreme Court punted on similar questions.