Abortion

Utah House Passes 72 Hour Abortion Waiting Period

Utah may soon be the second state to pass a law requiring a woman to wait three days before terminating a pregnancy.

Rep. Steve Eliason. [img src]

South Dakota’s law mandating that a woman seeking an abortion must wait 72-hours between her first visit to a provider and the actual procedure hasn’t gone into effect yet due to court challenges, but that’s not stopping Utah from trying to pass one as well.

Now, it has cleared the House and will move on to the Senate.

Via Salt Lake Tribune:

“An abortion cannot be undone,” said Rep. Steve Eliason, R-Sandy. “Why would we not want to afford a woman facing a life-changing decision 72 hours to consider ramifications that could last a lifetime?”

…Eliason said his bill is “pro-consumer.” He pointed to a number of other procedures, from sterilization to marriage licensing, to firearms purchases and others that have comparable waiting periods.

Abortion, Eliason argued, has a profound long-term impact and should have a comparable waiting period.

The bill was debated for less than 15 minutes, and only one representative spoke out against it.