Indiana passed a near-total abortion ban, the first in the United States since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, with narrow exceptions despite widespread criticism.
Lawmakers passed the legislation that bans most procedures in a special session in early August. It also includes narrow exceptions for rape, incest, and certain serious medical complications and emergencies.
Indiana's Near-Total Abortion Ban
Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb issued a statement soon after lawmakers approved the bill, saying that he was signing it into law as part of a promise he had made to "support legislation that made progress in protecting life." The Indiana governor said that the law includes "carefully negotiated exceptions to address some of the unthinkable circumstances a woman or unborn child might face."
Several reproductive rights groups, including the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, and others, are now challenging Indiana's law in state court. A hearing, in that case, is scheduled for Sept. 19, four days after the law's effective date.
Abortion providers in the state will not be able to offer the procedure in most situations and Whole Woman's Health of South Bend said it would be forced to stop providing abortions. However, they said that they would continue operating their clinic there to provide "support to all who seek abortion services, and to continue its activism and organizing to roll back cruel, unjust anti-abortion laws," as per NPR.
Furthermore, the group also noted that affiliates in other several other states, including neighboring Illinois, would continue to offer medication abortion, where the pills are legal, and to help patients travel for abortions.
Indiana's near-total abortion ban will affect patients well beyond the state, said Tamarra Wieder, the state director for Planned Parenthood in neighboring Kentucky. In that region, there is currently no abortion access as a result of two anti-abortion laws that took effect in June.
According to CNN, under the newly-passed law, abortion clinics are no longer considered state-licensed facilities and cannot provide abortions. The legislation now requires that all abortions be performed in a licensed hospital, or an ambulatory outpatient surgical center majority owned by a licensed hospital.
Widespread Criticism
Abortion providers who perform the surgery in violation of the law are subject to a criminal penalty of up to six years imprisonment and a fine of $10,000. The state already prohibits medication abortion after eight weeks of postfertilization age.
Last month, abortion providers and a nonprofit that operates a pregnancy resource center in the state have filed a lawsuit seeking to block the ban from taking effect. They argued that the law "will infringe on Hoosiers' rights to privacy, violate Indiana's guarantee of equal privileges and immunities, and violate the Constitution's due course of law clause through its unconstitutionally vague language.
Due to the near-total abortion ban in Indiana, patients will most likely head to Ohio or Illinois, where they will face waiting lines that have varied from several days to weeks. On Thursday, Planned Parenthood of Illinois announced that it had added abortion services at its clinic in Champaign, just across the Indiana border, the Washington Post reported.
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