SW News: Governor Spencer Cox of the American state of Utah has signed legislation banning abortion clinics in the state, making it the latest state to restrict the procedure since the reversal of Roe v Wade last year. Cox signed the bill into law on March 15, after it passed the Senate on March 2 and the state House on March 3, along party lines.

According to HB 467, from now on, only hospitals can provide abortion services and all clinics providing the same must shut down at the end of the year or when their license expires. Alongside, the permit for the abortion clinic cannot be issued or renewed by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services after May 2 this year.

When the Supreme Court removed the constitutional right to abortion, Utah lawmakers stated that it would protect "the innocent and the unborn," adding that the state won't further need abortion clinics.

Although the law doesn't expressly prohibit individuals from seeking abortions in Utah, pro-abortion advocates are worried that if clinics stop performing abortions, hospitals with higher relative costs of care and staffing shortages will make it more challenging to obtain a legal abortion from the state. In addition, the ban will most likely affect those who seek abortion through medication.

Utah's rape and incest exception for abortions after 18 weeks of pregnancy was eliminated in another revision to the abortion statute established under HB467. Utah has one of the most stringent abortion restrictions in the US.

Following the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v Wade last year, two previously passed legislation went into effect: a 2019 ban on abortions after 18 weeks and a 2020 ban on abortions during any trimester, with a few exceptions for rape or incest, reported to the police and situations posing a risk to the mother's health. However, due to a lawsuit filed by the Planned Parenthood Organization of Utah challenging the 2020 ban, a state judge postponed its implementation, and the case is still in court.