Today was the first day of the 2021 Utah Legislative Session. For the next 45 days, Utah Legislators will be convening to approve the budget and to discuss and vote on hundreds of bills that can lead to new state polices.
Due to the pandemic, the Legislative Session will look quite different this year. Right now, no public visitors are allowed in the Capitol. That means all public hearings and participation will happen virtually. We don’t know if this will be the case for the entire 45 days, but we will keep you posted! You can go to le.utah.govto follow all the action happening on the Hill.
At Planned Parenthood, our policy priority is always to protect the right to sexual and reproductive health care and education so that every Utahn can live their best life. During these challenging times, equitable access to health care -- no matter your race, ethnicity, gender, income, sexual orientation, immigration status, or neighborhood – is more important than ever. Thankfully, we have some legislators who agree. This year so far we are supporting published bills that eliminate in-person information module requirements for a person seeking an abortion, provide access to oral contraceptives for people in jail, and extend fertility treatment for qualifying families. As always we are closely monitoring bills that would restrict rights and access to life saving health care.
As we move through the session, we will keep our supporters informed through our weekly Ambassador emails. (If you already receive emails with the subject line “THE HIVE” then you are already signed up.) To get our weekly updates on the Legislative Session and action alerts, join the Birds & the Beehive by signing up as an Ambassador. To make sure you are getting our emails, please add [email protected] to your safe sender list.
Lastly, this week also marks the 48th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. To celebrate, on Thursday we are hosting a virtual panel discussion: Reframing Roe Through a Race Equity Lens. We hope you’ll join us! Get all the details here.
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