SALT LAKE CITY — Elizabeth Nelson’s birth mom was just 11 minutes away from aborting her at a facility before her car broke down back in 2002.
“It was 11 minutes. I could very easily not be here today and I’m really glad that I am,” Nelson said.
Her birth mother, after contemplating the decision she was about to make, decided to give Elizabeth up for adoption instead.
Nelson was one of 350 people who marched against abortion at the Capitol on Saturday, with many demanding Utah’s strict trigger law to go into effect.
The trigger law — which bans abortions except in cases of rape, incest, or health of the mother — is on hold. Utah’s trigger law was passed in 2020 but went into effect only when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. Planned Parenthood sued over the law. A judge then issued an injunction that halted the law from going into effect.
“I’m here and I’m alive and I’m so thankful that my mom gave me, she just chose to give me life instead. I wouldn’t have met Josh, I wouldn’t have met my friends,” Nelson said.
Mary Taylor, the president of Pro-Life Utah, said anti-abortion legislation may potentially be on its way.
“I’m sure there will be bills coming forward,” she said. “People are strategizing and thinking about things right now so it’s hard to say.”
Planned Parenthood, an abortion rights group, declined to comment on the march.
Kathy Mills, the woman who adopted Elizabeth 23 years ago, said she adopted her because she was struggling to have babies of her own.
“I just wish people would give them a chance to be born, to live a life where they can be happy, and be in a good home,” Mills said.
Taylor said Saturday that there isn’t action planned for the trigger law until April 2026.
