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SALT LAKE CITY — Members of a Utah House committee finally took action on a bill that would direct the Utah Department of Health to review administrative rules surrounding abortion providers and the requirement that they have hospital admitting privileges.
The House Health and Human Services Committee substituted and amended HB384 before voting to send it forward Thursday. The bill calls for the removal of a provision in Utah law that requires physicians who provide abortions to have hospital admitting privileges in case something were to go awry during the procedure.
Some committee members said passing the bill would be ineffective, as the it already brought attention to the matter and a representative with the health department had gone on record saying the rules would be reviewed with or without the bill passing.
HB384 was brought by Rep. Brian King, D-Salt Lake City, who was concerned that taxpayer funds would be used in future defense of the rule, which has been struck down in Texas, following a notable Supreme Court ruling on abortion last year.
The bill, which has been held in the committee more than a week and barely had enough votes to pass, now heads to the House floor for further consideration.
