The decision makes abortion legal up to 18 weeks in Utah, which is among a group of states where abortion rights have been put on hold amid legal and political challenges shaping the post-Roe landscape, with states they now have the power to restrict abortions. “What I’m really doing is saying we have serious things to discuss,” Judge Andrew Stone said after issuing an order delaying the enabling law. He said the status quo should remain in place until a challenge from the state Planned Parenthood affiliate is fully heard. Meanwhile, a Minnesota judge has declared most of the state’s abortion restrictions unconstitutional. In Michigan, a campaign resulted in a record number of signatures so that voters can be asked on the November ballot whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. And federally, the Biden administration’s Department of Health and Human Services said Monday that hospitals “must” provide abortion services if the mother’s life is at risk, saying the federal Emergency Treatment Guidelines Act preempts state laws in jurisdictions that now prohibit the procedure without any exceptions. Currently, even states with the strictest abortion bans allow exceptions when the mother’s health is at risk, though the threat of prosecution has confused some doctors. Last month’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which held that the right to abortion is protected by the US Constitution. The issue has returned to the states, sparking new court battles and ballot initiatives as many states act to restrict or ban abortions. Utah is among more than a dozen states with enabling laws designed to restrict abortion after Roe v. Wade. Monday’s decision comes two weeks after the court temporarily suspended the law, which bans most abortions with exceptions for rape, incest or the mother’s health. Stone, who was appointed by a Republican governor, blocked enforcement for 14 days after the state branch of Planned Parenthood sued. His decision effectively extends the temporary hold placed in the law and allows Planned Parenthood clinics to continue providing abortions until the case is resolved. Utah attorneys argued that language in the state constitution allowed the abortion ban and said delaying the enabling law would be tantamount to overriding the will of the Utah Legislature and voters. Julie Murray, an attorney for Planned Parenthood, said failure to delay implementation of the law could lead her staff to face criminal charges and harm about 200 patients with scheduled appointments next month. Stone issued a preliminary injunction that would have allowed Planned Parenthood clinics to continue providing abortion care — up to 18 weeks of pregnancy under another recently passed limit — until the court rules on the constitutional issues. The judge in Minnesota declared unconstitutional most of the state’s abortion restrictions, including the 24-hour waiting period and the requirement that both parents be notified before a minor can have an abortion. Ramsey County District Judge Thomas Gilligan also rejected requirements that only doctors can perform abortions and that abortions after the first trimester must be performed in hospitals. His order took effect immediately, meaning the limits cannot be enforced. Gender Justice and other abortion rights groups argued that the restrictions were unconstitutional after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in 1995 that the state constitution protects abortion rights. The judge called this case “important and historic” and said it is not affected by the recent US Supreme Court decision. “These abortion laws violate the right to privacy because they violate the fundamental right under the Minnesota Constitution to access abortion care and do not withstand strict scrutiny,” Gilligan wrote. The decision is expected to benefit patients from restrictive states who could go to Minnesota for reproductive health care. Providers have braced for an increase in patients from neighboring states in the upper Midwest, and even further afield. Opponents of abortion rights condemned the decision. Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life said the laws challenged in the case are “common sense measures that support and empower pregnant women” and their strike prevents residents from “putting reasonable protections in place for unborn children and their mothers.” A Republican attorney general nominee called on the Democratic attorney general to appeal. In a Louisiana state court Monday, legal efforts to prevent the permanent closure of the state’s three abortion clinics were renewed. A New Orleans judge last week refused to extend a temporary restraining order preventing enforcement of the state’s abortion ban, saying the case belonged in Baton Rouge. Attorneys for a north Louisiana clinic and an abortion rights group are now seeking a new restraining order from a Baton Rouge judge. Attorney General Jeff Landry’s office says a temporary restraining order cannot be renewed after it expires. Along with lawsuits challenging the bans, abortion rights advocates are trying to add ballot questions to enshrine abortion rights in state constitutions. More than 750,000 signatures were submitted by the campaign in Michigan on Monday – nearly double the number needed. The Democratic governor and attorney general in the battleground state have made abortion rights a centerpiece of their re-election campaigns. “The number of signatures showed that here in Michigan we trust women. We trust people. We trust doctors, not politicians, to make decisions about our bodies, our pregnancy and our parenting,” Reproductive Freedom for All spokeswoman Shanay Watson-Whittaker said during a press conference in Lansing. Signatures still need to be verified and validated. A judge temporarily blocked a 1931 Michigan law that would have made abortion a felony except when “necessary to preserve the life of such woman.” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said the law is invalid under the state constitution’s due process and equal protection clauses. The order, which stems from a Planned Parenthood lawsuit, could be revoked at any time. Last week, supporters of a last-minute effort to enshrine abortion rights in the Arizona Constitution failed to gather enough signatures to make it onto the November ballot. In California, voters will decide in November whether to guarantee the right to abortion in their constitution. Democrats who control government in California fear the state’s abortion laws could be vulnerable to legal challenges.
McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island, and Karnowski reported from St. Paul, Minnesota. Associated Press writer Kevin McGill in New Orleans and Associated Press/Report for America writer Joey Cappelletti in Lansing, Michigan contributed to this report.
