Abortion ban remains in limbo as Utah Supreme Court denies Attorney General’s appeal

Photo: Utah State Capital by Michael Hard via Unsplash

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Supreme Court recently ruled that the injunction to stop Utah’s abortion ban trigger laws for further review is still standing as of October 14. This means that the status of abortion law in Utah remains somewhat in flux; abortions will remain legal until the trigger bans are evaluated further.

These recent events regarding abortion in Utah began when Planned Parenthood sued the state to block the trigger ban from becoming law when the Dobbs v. Jackson decision was made public. The suit was set to go before Utah’s 3rd District Court, until which the trigger law would not go into effect. This delay is referred to as a temporary injunction.

Afterwards, the Utah Attorney General office appealed to the Utah Supreme Court that the abortion ban should go into effect until it is put under further review, not the other way around. The Supreme Court decision from October 14 is a denial of this appeal, meaning that the will remain in limbo until the 3rd District court hears Planned Parenthood’s suit.