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Utah Senate advances abortion prohibition bill after hours of heated debate
Summary
The Utah Senate voted to move SB174, a near-total abortion prohibition with narrowly defined exceptions, to third reading after an extended, emotional floor debate that divided senators along moral, legal and practical lines. Supporters said the bill protects unborn life; opponents raised concerns about victims of sexual violence, medical exceptions and state authority limits.
The Utah Senate on the floor advanced Senate Bill 174, a measure that would prohibit abortions from conception except in enumerated circumstances, moving the bill to third reading after a lengthy, at times emotional debate.
Sponsor Sen. McKay, presenting the bill, told colleagues the proposal aims to protect unborn life and to set a clear statutory definition of when government should intervene. "When I think about what it means to have a choice or what it means to be a baby…my right stops when it hurts someone else," McKay said during his summation.
Supporters framed the measure as a defense of life. Sen. Bramble described the bill as a response to what…
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