Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff estimates it would cost at least $1 million for his office to defend the bill and a minimum of $3 million if outside legal counsel is hired to take the case. Valentine has requested detailed information on the costs from Shurtleff.

Sen. Lyle Hillyard, R-Logan, said cost shouldn't be a consideration. "I don't want the word to be out that the Legislature would cave on these issues because of the cost," he said.

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., who is pro-life, has yet to weigh in on HB235 in its substituted form.

"This is one we will be waiting to see in its final form," the governor's spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley, said. "We will see what happens. ... It still has a ways to go."

House leaders were not so bold Wednesday as to predict the bill's passage in that chamber. Majority Leader David Clark, R-Santa Clara, told the Associated Press that Republicans there hadn't discussed it and may not want to take on Roe v. Wade with protracted litigation.

But Senate Majority Leader Curt Bramble, R-Provo, said having sponsored two bills to restrict abortions in recent years, he senses the Senate is "generally favorable" to defending the rights of the unborn.

"Planned Parenthood has made it clear that they will do all they can to continue killing babies ... that's what abortions do," he said. "That's one where it's kind of black and white. There's not a lot of negotiating if you take the life of a child."

Karrie Galloway, executive director of Planned Parenthood of Utah, said that blaming the group for abortions is misguided and takes the attention off the more pressing issue of preventing unwanted pregnancies that can result in abortion.

"I don't know why they are targeting Planned Parenthood, who is doing more than anyone else in this state to prevent the need for abortions," she said, noting contraception, family planning and other programs to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

"We are so focused on the abortion issue that we don't look at how to prevent abortion, we only want to ban it and it hasn't addressed the needs of the people of Utah."

Utah is not alone in its Legislature seeking an outright ban of abortion.

Last year, South Dakota lawmakers attempted a similar attack on legalized abortion, but with a much stronger law that included no exceptions for rape, incest or a woman's physical health. Voters in November rejected that law, but the state's Legislature last week passed another law, with exceptions, meant to pose a legal challenge to Roe v. Wade.

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Contributing: Associated Press

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