Utah Bill Would Make Seeking Illegal Abortion a Crime

The bill was approved by overwhelming majorities in the Republican-controlled Legislature: 59 to 12 in the House and 24 to 4 in the Senate.

According to the legislation, legal abortions performed by a doctor would still be allowed. 

At least 38 states have laws against fetal homicide, generally intended to create additional penalties when a pregnant woman is assaulted or killed. States of Delaware and New York rule self-abortion as crime. Both laws were passed before the United States Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade.

Critics say the Utah bill could question the intent and responsibility of mothers and give an extra power to prosecutors to investigate a woman’s intentions toward her unborn child.

“Prosecutors have a lot of discretion, and miscarriage is a sad but common event in connection with pregnancy,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, a nonprofit advocacy group for birth control and abortion rights. “This bill would cast suspicion, potentially, on every single miscarriage.”