- March 6, 2017
Utah lawmakers head into their final week of the legislative session trying to finalize a budget, as well as consider a major overhaul of liquor laws and a tax package that raises the sales tax on food but lowers the rate on all sales tax.
The 45-day session wraps up Thursday. But until the clock strikes midnight that day, expect legislators to put in long hours and power through hundreds of bills. Here is the paragraph on Abortion. For the rest of the story, here’s the LINK
Republican Rep. Keven Stratton of Orem is running legislation requiring doctors to tell women that a medication-induced abortion could be halted halfway through, though doctors’ groups say there is no data to back up that claim. The idea behind the proposal, which a handful of other states have passed or are considering, is that a woman can take the hormone progesterone after taking the first of two medications taken for the abortion. That proposal is awaiting a final vote in Utah’s Senate, and if approved, it heads to Gov. Gary Herbert. Another proposal, from Republican Rep. Ken Ivory, looked to ban doctors using telemedicine to remotely prescribe abortion-inducing drugs. Medication-induced abortion was the only procedure banned in the bill, which mainly addresses the way insurers reimburse doctors who provide telemedicine. Lawmakers stripped out the abortion ban, saying they didn’t want to sideline legislation that aims to expand health access to rural residents.
