Page 3A of the 3/25/91 USA Today

"Abortion ad enrages governor of Utah"

A full-page ad in the _The New York Times_ Sunday blasting Utah's abortion
law has Gov. Norm Bangerter enraged with its author, the American Civil
Liberties Union.

"In Utah they know how to punish a woman who has an abortion," reads the
ad's banner headline.  "Shoot her."

The ad focuses on what bill sponsors say is an accidental loophole in the
law that could subject a woman who has an abortion to the death penalty.
A 1983 amendment to state homicide statutes made an illegal abortion a
murder.

"A woman who has an abortion could be sentenced to the death penalty," the
ad says.  "In Utah, that means the firing squad.  (Or she may choose
lethal injection.)"

A Bangerter spokesman says the ad is inflammatory and inaccurate.
"One always wonders how low the ACLU will stoop on a given issue," says Bud
Scruggs, chief of staff.  "This is a new low even for them."

The ACLU blames the Legislature's rush treatment of the bill, which was
introduced, passed, and signed by the governor in five days.

The law outlaws abortions except in cases of rape or incest, in cases of
danger to the mother's health, or if the fetus suffers defects.
"This entire bill is a mistake," says Phil Gutis of the ACLU national
headquarters.

Sponsors say they will fix the problem at a special session next month.
The law takes effect April 29, but legal challenges are planned.