Utah's House of Representatives has approved a bill that bars doctors from using telemedicine to remotely prescribe abortion-inducing medication.
The bill from Republican Rep. Ken Ivory of West Jordan mainly promotes the use of telemedicine, where doctors use images and webcams to consult with patients, typically far away or in rural areas, and remotely treat them. But a provision at the very bottom, which Democrats tried unsuccessfully to remove, says doctors cannot prescribe abortion-inducing medication remotely.
Ivory said a doctor needs to be there in person when administering the medication.
Democrats argued that the restriction unfairly limits the ability of rural women to access abortions and singles it out as the only medical procedure banned in the bill.