Abortions statistics reporting bill passes Senate

Published: Wednesday, Feb. 20 2013 11:45 a.m. MST

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill calling for the state health department to report annual abortion statistics to the Utah Legislature, including a woman's race or ethnicity, passed the Senate on Wednesday.

"This is only about statistics and information gathering dealing with the number of abortions that are done in our state," said Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, sponsor of SB60.

Along with the number of abortions performed each year, the Utah Department of Health would have to report the stage of pregnancy for each abortion, the race of the woman and the reason for the procedure.

The vote passed along party lines, 23-5. Democrats questioned the need for collecting information about race or ethnicity and the reason a woman obtains an abortion.

The bill now moves to the House for consideration.

E-mail: romboy@desnews.com

Twitter: dennisromboy

Featured Comments

See all 4 comments »

BYU Track Star

Los Angeles, CA

I hope the bill also includes what church the woman belongs to, her level of being observant in that religion. Also a similiar characterization of the father of the soon to be aborted fetus. I would imagine that gentile women are not only women in More..

12:21 p.m. Feb. 20, 2013
Top comment

spring street

SALT LAKE CITY, UT

what is the purpose of reporting this information to the state legislature, what do they plan to do with the information?more information would be nice.

3:30 p.m. Feb. 20, 2013
Top comment

jrgl

CEDAR CITY, UT

Way too much emphasis on women's health in politics! Can't believe this passed the way it did. Utah isn't a big abortion providing state. How about a bill tracking something personal about men's reproduction or lack thereof? More..

1:04 p.m. Feb. 20, 2013
Top comment

Comments