SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) – Utah and Mississippi are not geographically near each other, but they’re standing side by side in a legal effort to have the Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, paving the way for states to outlaw abortion. Utah is among the 24 states listed on a brief supporting Mississippi’s test case to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that the U.S. Constitution protects a woman’s right to have an abortion.

State lawmakers passed Senate Bill 174 during Utah’s 2020 legislative session, which would go into effect if Roe v. Wade were to be overturned and grant each state the ability to determine its own laws on abortion. In October, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a review on the constitutionality of the law on abortion from Mississippi. Their ruling on that case could have an impact on Utah’s abortion trigger law.

Prof. Justin Collings, who teaches constitutional law at the Reuben J. Clark School of Law at Brigham Young University, joined ABC4’s Glen Mills for an In Focus discussion. He explained SB 174 in more detail, the circumstances that would activate this law, what the clause about the possible conflict in Utah code means, what the Roe v. Wade ruling says, how it relates to Casey v. Planned Parenthood, and how the Supreme Court’s ruling could affect Utah law.

Merrilee Boyack, chair of Abortion-Free Utah Coalition, shared why she supports the law to ban abortions in the state, how many Utahns she thinks supports a complete ban, whether she thinks a ban would be effective in eliminating abortions, her thoughts on doctors facing a felony for performing abortions under the law, how she feels about people being able to travel to other states to get abortions if the law goes into effect, and whether she thinks the Mississippi case will overturn Roe v. Wade.

Karrie Galloway, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, discussed why she opposes the law to ban abortions in the state, how many Utahns she thinks supports a complete ban, whether she thinks a ban would be effective in eliminating abortions, her thoughts on doctors facing a felony for performing abortions under the law, how she feels about people being able to travel to other states to get abortions if the law goes into effect, and whether she thinks the Mississippi case will overturn Roe v. Wade.

To watch the full IN FOCUS discussion with Prof. Collings, Boyack, and Galloway, click on the video at the top of the article.