Utah’s current legislation for Utah State House Bill 12 has been a hot topic throughout the country, even with an article in the New York Times (with a quote from Laura Bunker, President of UFI Utah!) printed in February.
House Bill 12 says that a woman found to have harmed her unborn child through “intentional, knowing or negligent” acts could be charged with criminal homicide. Basically, a woman who purposely miscarries is held responsible for her actions.
Although it is awesome that Utah’s bill has been mentioned in two separate side events here at CSW, they are getting it all wrong. They are preaching to the women here that Utah is making miscarriages illegal. If you think about that statement for approximately 30 seconds you will realize how ridiculous that is, and obviously untrue.
About 15-20 percent of all pregnancies end in miscarriage naturally. They are often caused by chromosomal abnormalities which don’t allow the fertilized egg to develop properly. For Utah’s legislature to deem this an illegal act makes no sense whatsoever. This is because they are not.
The bill was signed by the Governor Gary Herbert on Monday.