House passes amended Senate Bill 23, sets 20-week limit and adds medical‑emergency exception

The Utah House passed Substitute Senate Bill 23 as amended, setting a 20‑week gestational limit and reinstating a medical‑emergency exception, and sent the bill back to the Senate after a 53‑20 roll call.

Supporters said the 20‑week threshold and the added exception balance medical evidence about viability and the need to preserve an emergency medical option. Representative Jensen said medical evidence about viability informed his support, noting that “earliest viability has been determined now at 21 weeks,” and adding that “constitutionally, we are safe at the 20 weeks.” Representative Bain, who moved the 20‑week substitute, cited a physician who told her that birth defects are most reliably detected “anywhere from 18 to 20 weeks,” and proposed the compromise.

Opponents argued the bill is premature, restrictive, or improperly mixes religious beliefs with law. Representative Milner, who opposed the substitute, called the measure “restrictive” and said the public had not had full opportunity to consider legislation from the abortion task force. Representative Jones framed the issue as one of religious freedom, saying the bill would put “one religious belief … more equal than another.” Representative Wharton urged members to center the practical impact on women rather than tailoring weeks to what judges might accept: “We’re more concerned about the constitutionality than we are about the woman,” she said, stressing lawmakers should consider human lives and trauma.

Earlier on the floor members debated multiple amendments. A motion to change the gestational limit to 12 weeks was put to a vote and failed. After further discussion about diagnostic timing, a substitute motion to set the limit at 20 weeks — with an explicit ‘‘e’’ clause to allow later determinations and testing — passed. The House also approved an amendment reinstating an emergency provision to section 76‑7‑302 so that, in a serious medical emergency when time does not permit compliance with procedural provisions, a physician may act based on his or her judgment.

The House chair announced that Substitute Senate Bill 23 as amended received 53 affirmative votes and 20 negative votes and will be referred back to the Senate for its further consideration. The House then adjourned until 10:00 a.m. the following day.

The bill’s next procedural step is consideration by the Senate; the transcript does not record any Senate action or any later judicial or administrative decisions.

Notes: The House debate included multiple speakers raising constitutional, medical, and religious arguments. The record shows votes on several amendment motions and the final passage tally; details about subsequent Senate action or implementation timelines were not specified in the transcript.