While Utah legislators may differ on the form that anti-abortion legislation should take, most members of the House have expressed their strongly held belief in the state restricting abortions.

The House was presented with two forms of anti-abortion legislation on Monday, eventually settling on a "trigger bill" which would only outlaw abortions in the event that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Under the bill passed by the House, if Roe v. Wade stops being the law of the land, abortions would only be allowed to be performed when there is significant risk of severe injury or death to the mother, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. The rape or incest would have to be reported to law enforcement before the abortion is performed.

The bill that the House approved was a substitute bill introduced by Rep. Steve Urquhart, R-St George. Urquhart said that by using a trigger bill, the state would save a large sum of money by avoiding the inevitable legal challenges that would follow.

The original version of the bill appropriated $1.3 million for the legal defense of the law. Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, the original sponsor of the legislation, said that private individuals were prepared to supplement that figure with large donations.

Urquhart's substitute bill would redirect the $1.3 million legal defense appropriation to help fund Early Childhood Intervention programs and the Birth Defect Network.

Ray opposed substituting the bill and also opposed the use of the $1.3 million for the uses Urquhart proposed. Ray said that the Legislature has already funded those programs to nearly the whole level that was requested.

Ray said he wanted this bill to be more than sending a message about how Utah feels on abortion. "This is no longer a message bill, this is a policy decision," he said.

Urquhart argued against the appropriation for legal defense using logic very similar to that which the House used to defeat video game legislation. He said there are several other states that have introduced similar legislation, and that it makes more sense to let those states bare the financial burden of the litigation.

HB 235 passed the House with a vote of 62-12. It now moves to the Senate.

HB 235, Abortion Law Revisions, Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield. This bill would outlaw abortions, with health, rape and incest exceptions, in the event that Roe vs. Wade is overturned.