Abortion Law – Suggestions Wanted

A sizeable majority of Utahns favor very restrictive abortion laws. Of course, people are free to argue whether that is good or bad, but the sentiment is a strong reality.

Rep. Paul Ray originally purported to run legislation that would have restricted abortions to cases of rape, incest or very serious risk to the mother’s health; those provisions would have kicked in only in the event Roe v. Wade were to be overturned. However, Rep. Stephen Sandstrom substituted a bill that would enact those provisions right away – forcing Utah into a court battle, with the apparent intent of attempting to take the matter all the way to the Supreme Court in order to overturn Roe v. Wade.

As a point of information, Utah challenged Roe v. Wade in 1991, and lost.

The bill likely will be heard by the House on Friday, 2/9/07. I would like some input. Therefore, I have cross-posted this entry at Politicopia, which provides a much better format for discussion.

Though people should post what they want, I would appreciate some discussion on:

(1) whether Utah should change existing abortion law,
(2) if so, what those changes should be,
(3) if Utah enacts more restrictive provisions, should they nominally take effect right away and force the court battle,
(4) should more restrictive changes sit dormant, until Roe v. Wade is overturned, (letting other states foot the bill this time around) and/or
(5) should the money that would have been spent by the State to litigate this matter be spent on programs for children, like the birth defects network and early intervention?