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SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that bars doctors from using telemedicine to remotely prescribe abortion-inducing medication advanced through the Utah Legislature on Tuesday despite warnings from Democrats that it will likely be challenged in court.
Utah's Republican-controlled House voted to approve HB154, which mainly promotes the use of telemedicine, a growing practice in which doctors use images and webcams to consult with patients, typically far away or in rural areas, and treat them.
But a provision at the very bottom of the legislation says doctors cannot prescribe abortion-inducing medication remotely.
Democrats tried to remove that restriction during debate on the House floor Tuesday, arguing it unfairly limits the ability of rural women to access abortions and singles it out as the only medical procedure banned in the bill.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, said it's important for a doctor to be there in person, and legislators also won't extend telemedicine to procedures like brain surgery.
"I think it's sad that something as simple as saying you should have personal contact with a doctor to terminate a life has garnered so much outrage," Ivory said.
He then described in graphic terms the bleeding, contractions and other symptoms of the procedure, generally used in earliest weeks of pregnancy.
Rep. Angela Romero, D-Salt Lake City, objected, calling on House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, to cut off Ivory's speech because she believed it was irrelevant to the bill and a violation of the House rules.
Hughes said he hadn't been listening but urged Ivory to keep his comments related to the legislation, and allowed Ivory to continue with his description.
Ivory also said he welcomes a legal challenge, noting that 19 other states have passed similar laws.
In a legal memo about Ivory's bill, the Legislature's attorneys said there's "a very strong argument that, if taken to court, this provision would be found unconstitutional."
The memo cited a 2016 Supreme Court decision where the justices ruled several Texas restrictions did more harm to a woman's constitutional right to access abortion than they did to protect her health.
Utah legislative lawyers said that Ivory's proposal is not "directly on point" with the Texas case and therefore doesn't conflict with any binding legal precedent, but it's not clear that the restrictions in his bill provides an overriding health benefit for women.
The legal memo is not an official part of the legislation but was prepared for Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, whose office shared the memo with the Associated Press.
It's unclear if any Utah abortion providers currently dispense abortion medication remotely.
The Planned Parenthood Association of Utah says it does not have a telemedicine system in place but supports it as an option.
