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  • Title: Appeals court finds Utah late abortion restrictions unconstitutional.
    Journal: Reprod Freedom News; 1995 Sep 15; 4(16):2. PubMed ID: 12320245.
    Abstract:
    In an opinion issued on August 2, 1995, a three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit found invalid several portions of Utah's 1991 criminal abortion ban that applied to pregnancy terminations after the twentieth week as well as prohibiting fetal diagnosis and treatment. The unanimous decision marks the first time that a federal appellate panel has applied the US Supreme Court's 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood vs. Casey to restrictions on abortions performed late in pregnancy. In December 1992, Judge Thomas Greene of the US District Court for the District of Utah relied upon Casey to find unconstitutional the Utah legislature's 1991 attempt to ban virtually all abortions. At the same time, however, the district court rewrote the abortion ban to prohibit procedures after the twentieth week of pregnancy except to save a woman's life, to prevent grave damage to her health, in cases of rape or incest, or to prevent the birth of a child with grave defects. The district court also upheld a ban on fetal experimentation and a requirement that physicians performing later abortions use the method most likely to give the fetus the best chance of survival. Judge Greene's decision was stayed pending negotiations over possible settlement and plaintiffs' appeal in the case. Overturning the lower court's holdings, the appeals court found that Judge Greene's revision of the abortion ban was an improper use of judicial power; that the prohibition on so-called fetal experimentation is unconstitutionally vague; and that the restrictions on post-viability abortions are invalid because they constitute an undue burden. In a separate opinion, the appeals court reversed Judge Greene's unprecedented 1993 order awarding attorneys fees to the State of Utah and sanctioning plaintiffs in Jane L. vs. Bangerter for raising alternative legal claims under which the abortion ban might have been found unconstitutional.
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