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SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down parts of a Texas abortion law could have reverberations in Utah, experts say.
Similar to Texas, Utah requires abortion clinics to have at least one doctor with admitting privileges or a transfer agreement with a nearby hospital.
In order for a facility to be licensed as an abortion clinic, Utah law also requires abortion facilities to follow structural standards more often required of ambulatory surgical centers or hospitals. For example, the law specifies the minimum size of treatment rooms (110 square feet) and clarifies that the closest hospital must be 15 minutes away or less.
Marina Lowe, legislative and policy council for the ACLU of Utah, said the Supreme Court's ruling creates a strong precedent to challenge Utah's laws.
"Obviously the decision just came down this morning, so we'll probably be talking both with lawmakers and with providers about whether there's any need to take action," Lowe said Monday.
Utah's laws on admitting privileges and surgical center standards for abortions are not as restrictive as those in Texas. For example, abortion clinics in Utah do not have to have corridors of a certain width. The Utah code makes an exception for that rule, as well as some heating system and design requirements.
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The Supreme Court issued its strongest defense of abortion rights in a quarter-century Monday, striking down Texas' widely replicated rules that sharply reduced abortion clinics in the nation's second-most-populous state.Mary Taylor, president of Pro-Life Utah, said surgical standards legislation "was not at the top of our list by any means" when it came to legislation the group would lobby for in the 2017 legislative session.
"Certainly I think it's an important law, but it doesn't affect the number of abortions, the number of late-term abortions, in the degree some of the other legislation would," Taylor said.
She said the advocacy group is more interested in promoting a bill introduced last year by Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield, that would have outlawed so-called "dismemberment abortions" entirely.
Dr. Leah Torres, an abortion provider and reproductive rights activist, said more doctors and clinics may be able to perform abortions if the Utah laws were struck down.
She currently practices four out of five days at an OB-GYN clinic in West Valley City, which is not designed to surgical center standards. She conducts all her abortion procedures, whether medical or surgical, at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Salt Lake City — one of two abortion clinics in the state.
Stil, Torres said the biggest hurdle for patients trying to get abortions in Utah is a lack of providers who are trained and willing to perform the procedures.
"If I'm thinking of St. George, I don't know of any practitioner in St. George that's qualified to perform abortions, even though it might be legal to do so," Torres said. "Or those that are willing."
"There's a lot more that goes into this besides state law," she added.
