And what is left unsettled are options for low-income women who may not have the benefit of a private insurance carrier willing to pay for the procedure.

While Springmeyer said Medicaid funding has never paid for abortions in the event of grave fetal deformities, Combe insisted something needs to be done to help all women who encounter a situation similar to his wife's.

The pair found out in early spring that the baby they hoped for would not survive outside the womb due to a rare condition in which its organs were growing outside the body.

Although stressing they are anti-abortion, the Combes elected to terminate the pregnancy rather than endure another four months of gestation.

It was, Glen Combe said, not an easy decision that became more traumatic after they discovered they could not go to the facility of their choice or have her doctor perform the procedure.

Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, the sponsor of the bill, has been meeting with health department officials and the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel over the past 10 days to come up with the new rule.

Like Combe, Bramble agrees the Legislature needs to amend the bill to allow for the procedure in the event of low-income women who encounter a pregnancy in which there are grave fetal deformities.

"The governor has already indicated her willingness to put on the call for a special session, and yes, we would like to resolve this as soon as possible," he said.

Earlier this month, a federal judge in San Francisco declared unconstitutional the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Act, signed by President Bush last year. Rulings on the statute's constitutionality are pending in cases in New York and Nebraska.

Utah lawmakers passed the Partial Birth Abortion Amendments against the advice of the Attorney General's Office, which suggested passage of a state law wait until the constitutionality of the federal statute is decided.

---

E-mail: amyjoi@desnews.com; awelling@desnews.com