SALT LAKE CITY — Gov. Herbert says a bill that intends to ban certain abortion procedures could be deemed "unconstitutional", a bill to make Utahns pay 10 cents per plastic bag advances to the Senate and the Utah legislature has tabled discussion on a Death with Dignity bill.

Here's what's happening on the hill:

Bill proposes to remove mother, father from Utah paternity law

The Utah Office of Recovery Services has no legal standing to collect child support from a lesbian parent who is no longer with the child under the state's current paternity law, the agency's director told a Senate committee Thursday.

A bill sponsored by Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, would change dozens of references in the Uniform Parentage Act to reflect legalized same-sex marriage. SB179 would change "man" or "woman to "person" and "father" to "parent," for example, in the the law, which deals with paternity and parental rights.

"This helps our office immensely in removing that barrier," Recovery Services Director Lisa Stockdale told the Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on Thursday.

The committee voted 4-1 to move the bill to the Senate floor, amid opposition from the Sutherland Institute, Utah Families United and the Utah Eagle Forum.

Bill intends to ban certain abortion procedures in Utah

A lawmaker intends to do away with a "common" method of abortion in Utah though his efforts may be unconstitutional.

Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield, introduced HB442, which would prevent dismemberment abortion — which includes dilation and evacuation, suction and curettage or suction aspiration procedures. It also aims to charge physicians who perform the abortion with a third-degree felony, unless the procedure is performed in a medical emergency, the bill states.

The Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel has noted that the proposed legislation "has a high probability of being declared unconstitutional by a court."

Gov. Gary Herbert suggested Thursday he could not back a bill seen as challenging the Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion.

"This is no secret. I'm very much pro-life. But also pro-law and the rule of law is what we have to conduct ourselves with," the governor said, noting he was not familiar with the bill introduced earlier in the day.

Told about the constitutional concerns raised in a note on the bill, the governor said those will need to be addressed.

"I believe in the rule of law. I'm pro-life. I have a problem with Roe v. Wade, but it's the law of the land. So I'll wait to see what the bill is, if it comes to my desk," Herbert said. "We'll weigh in as we believe is appropriate, but we will adhere to the law of the land."

Yesterday's roundup:

Senate declares porn a public health crisis; Bill advances to rename Columbus Day

The Utah Senate unanimously passed a resolution declaring pornography a public health crisis, a bill advanced to change the name of Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day and an extended-day kindergarten bill failed in the Senate.

Committee sends shopping bags bill to full Senate

A Utah state senator, backed by multiple organizations such as the Utah Association of Counties and the Utah League of Cities and Towns, wants the state to assess a 10 cent fee on disposable plastic and paper bags used in places like grocery stores.

The problem, according to Sen. Jani Iwamoto, D-Holladay, is the bags fill up landfills, clog recycling machines and litter neighborhoods. The plastic ones take 1,000 years to degrade, and the paper bags release methane as they are decomposing in landfills.

Her bill, SB196, passed the Senate Business and Labor Committee on a 3-2 vote for consideration by the full Senate.

"Most people who don't want to pay a few extra cents for a bag that is going to pollute the environment will bring an extra bag," said Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross. "… It is incentivizing people to do the right thing."

Weiler said he favored the bill, even as he acknowledged Iwamoto and her supporters would face an "uphill battle" to get the measure through the Legislature.

Gov. Herbert says House Medicaid expansion plan 'better than zero'

Gov. Gary Herbert appeared resigned Thursday to taking what he can get from the Legislature when it comes to Medicaid expansion, saying he doesn't want another battle that results in nothing being done.

"When it comes to politics, you take as much high ground as you can get. You learn how to count the votes. And so you've got to get something that will pass," the governor told reporters during his weekly media availability.

Herbert downplayed statements by House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, that there would be no compromise on the limited plan he backs, HB437, introduced this week by House Majority Leader Jim Dunnigan, R-Taylorsville.

"I'm interested in getting something done, not just sitting fighting and getting nothing done," the governor said. "I'm interested in what comes."

Herbert said "everybody puts out their line in the sand, but then negotiations occur. We've seen people move and change and modify and improve. I expect that process will continue on and we'll see what comes out of the Legislature."

Dunnigan's bill would extend traditional Medicaid coverage to 16,000 of the more than 60,000 Utahns who earn below the federal poverty level but can't get any federal health subsidies because the state has not accepted Medicaid expansion.

"It's certainly better than zero, and it's not what I would have liked to have had," Herbert said. He has failed to win support for more expansive plans covering all of the estimated 110,000 Utahns eligible for Medicaid expansion.

Utah Legislature postpones discussion on end-of-life options

Utah lawmakers have again opted to study further the potential impacts of becoming a right-to-die state.

"This is one of those big, big, big, big issues," said Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo.

Physician-assisted suicide, Thurston said, is perhaps "bigger than the issue of medical insurance" in the state, which has occupied the Legislature for three years now.

Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck, D-Salt Lake City, who sponsored the End of Life Options Act, HB264, for the second time this year, said she's OK with the opportunity to discuss the matter further with her colleagues between sessions, but she will continue to back the bill every year "until it passes."

Last year, her Death with Dignity bill was also sent to interim for study. But Chavez-Houck said medical marijuana, "which is also a very important issue," took up the majority of committee discussion last year. She said she has spent a lot of time creating and vetting the proposal to give Utahns a choice in how and when they die.

"The final stage brings terror to my heart," said Dr. Elizabeth Pollak, a pathologist in southern Utah. She has stage 4, metastatic ovarian cancer, which she said will kill her.

"I want the right to choose to die before my suffering gets that severe and before I have to drag my family through the tragedy of watching me waste away, becoming a person they don't even recognize," Pollak said. "If I know I will have this choice, I can turn back to exuberant living without fear of what's coming for the remaining time I have left."

Pollak and others who testified to the House Health and Human Services Committee on Thursday may not be around when the group debates Utahns' options to die in the coming year.

Contributing: Dennis Romboy, Wendy Leonard, Amy Joi O'Donoghue, Lisa Riley Roche,

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