With the anniversary of Roe v. Wade nearly three weeks behind them, Utah lawmakers decided Tuesday that it’s time to clean up the celebratory confetti and ban abortions.

If passed, House Bill 235 would make it illegal for an abortion to be performed except in cases where a woman’s life or major bodily functions are at risk, or when there is an incidence of incest or rape that has been reported to the law.

Not only is the bill legally unsound, but it is insulting to women, fiscally irresponsible and nothing more than an expensive and temporary soapbox for its sponsors to rest their laurels on.

The Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade has served as precedent in the United States for just more than 34 years. Thus far, it has been ironclad.

Legislative attorneys-knowing the steadfast nature of the historical case-have warned that the new bill will likely be found unconstitutional. But, as they have in the past, lawmakers are throwing the cautions of history and knowledgeable people-not to mention taxpayer money-to the wind.

This isn’t the first time a bill like this has been proposed. More than a million dollars in taxpayer money was spent fighting for an abortion ban for Utah in the early 1990s.

It was found unconstitutional then, as it will be now, but that won’t stop Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, from sponsoring his bill that will unnecessarily cost taxpayers another million dollars, at least.

If you’re wondering where the reasoning is in all of this, Ray explained to The Salt Lake Tribune that, “We’re known for our family values and our children. We have the opportunity to lead the nation.”

Ray is either ironically unaware that the president is already leading the nation in a losing battle, or he has a demented notion that this bill will be deemed constitutional.

Really, where is the logic? If people sincerely wanted to rid the nation of abortions, they would put the millions they spend on unnecessary litigation into further subsidizing forms of preventative birth control, as well as making it mandatory for schools to teach a real sexual education class-not this abstinence stuff that flies out the window when natural hormones walk through the door.

But still, in the face of common sense, Ray and his cronies are at the altar ready to behead the sacrificial lamb that is the taxpayers and their money.