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SALT LAKE CITY -- Planned Parenthood says House Bill 12 would penalize women who miscarry. Executive Director Melissa Bird says women, medical professionals, clergy and spouses could be prosecuted for the loss of a pregnancy.
Bird says a woman who falls while skiing, for example, or is in a car accident and miscarries could be prosecuted for reckless behavior.
But the bill's sponsor Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman, says that won't happen.
"They are grasping at straws," Wimmer said.
He says Planned Parenthood is opposed to the concept in general.
"We are plowing new ground," Wimmer says of the bill. "It is cutting edge, and we will be the only state in the nation to do it."
Wimmer wrote the amendments after a Vernal teen was not charged with a crime even though she sought an illegal abortion. He believes Utah will pass his bill. He says it has bi-partisan support, and once it passes here many other states will fall in line.
E-mail: mrichards@ksl.com
