Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP)

Utah imposes a variety of burdensome requirements on abortion providers that are not imposed on other health care providers, including:

Restrictions on Where Abortions May Be Performed

Utah places medically unnecessary restrictions on where abortions may be performed.

All providers that perform second trimester abortions must be licensed as "abortion clinics" and are subject to administrative, professional qualification, patient and employee testing, and physical plant requirements. Utah Code Ann. §§ 26-21-2(1), 76-7-313 (Enacted 1981); Utah Admin. Code R432-600.

Each clinic must be located within 15 minutes or less of a full-service hospital, with whom the clinic must have a written transfer agreement and admitting privileges for the clinic medical director or the attending physician. Utah Admin. Code R432-600-14. No exceptions are made for rural areas.

Each clinic must have medical director who is: (1) a licensed physician; (2) a diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology or the American Board of Surgery, or who can provide evidence of other training and experience which qualifies him or her for admission to an examination by either board; (3) certified by the American College of Osteopathic Obstetricians and Gynecologists or the American Board of Osteopathic Surgeons, or who can provide evidence of other training and experience which qualifies him or her for admission to an examination by either board; and (4) a member in good standing with the National Abortion Federation. Utah Admin. Code R432-600-9.

Utah has an unconstitutional and unenforceable requirement that all abortions after the first trimester be performed in a hospital. Utah Code Ann. § 76-7-302(1) (Original Statute Enacted 1973; Repealed and Reenacted 1974; Last Amended 2004).

This restriction is unconstitutional as to second trimester abortions under a U.S. Supreme Court decision which held that a second trimester hospitalization requirement unconstitutionally burdens a woman's right to choose an abortion.  Akron v. Akron Ctr. for Reprod. Health, 462 U.S. 416 (1983).

Restrictions on Who May Perform Abortions

Utah prohibits certain qualified health care professionals from performing abortions.

Only a physician or osteopathic physician licensed by the state to practice medicine may perform an abortion. Utah Code Ann. §§ 76-7-302(1) (Original Statute Enacted 1973; Repealed and Reenacted 1974; Last Renumbered 1991; Last Amended 2004).