Abortion Access Restored in Indiana in Response to Lawsuit Filed by Providers and ACLU

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Abortion Access Restored in Indiana in Response to Lawsuit Filed by Providers and ACLU
9/9/2022 by Dr. Jennifer Ann Drobac

Updated Thursday, Sept. 22, at 7:52 a.m. PT.



An abortion rights activist holds a sign reading, “Not your baby making factory,” as the Indiana House of Representatives voted to ban abortion on Aug. 5, during a special session in Indianapolis. Gov. Holcomb signed the bill into law. (Jeremy Hogan / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)

On Thursday, Sept. 22, an Indiana circuit court temporarily blocked abortion ban Senate Bill 1 (SB 1). Abortion access has now been restored in the state. The court’s preliminary injunction against the ban—in effect since Sept. 15—was a response to an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) lawsuit, filed on Aug. 30, which sought to enjoin enforcement of SB 1. The ACLU represented Planned Parenthood, Women’s Med Group Professional Corporation, Whole Women’s Health Alliance, Dr. Amy Caldwell and All-Options, Inc., against the members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana and select county prosecutors, who were expected to enforce the law if it had gone into effect.

“We knew this ban would cause irreparable harm to Hoosiers, and in just a single week, it has done just that,” according to a joint statement from the providers represented in the suit. “We are grateful that the court granted much needed relief for patients, clients, and providers but this fight is far from over. Indiana lawmakers have made it abundantly clear that this harm, this cruelty, is exactly the reality they had in mind when they passed SB 1. There are 1.5 million people of reproductive age in the state of Indiana, and every single one of them deserve the right to make their own decisions about their bodies, families, and futures.” On Sept. 8, the ACLU filed an additional lawsuit, this time on behalf of Hoosier Jews for Choice and five women. The class-action suit argued SB 1 violates the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, since not all religions believe that life happens at the moment of conception.

Indiana GOP-Led Legislature Passes SB 1 During Special Session

Indiana’s Republican-dominated legislature passed SB 1 in a special August session called by Gov. Eric Holcomb, who signed the law the night it passed on Aug. 5. The new law declares “human physical life begins when a human ovum is fertilized by a human sperm.” Indiana is the first state to pass an abortion ban following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This case prompted the demise of abortion protections, established almost 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade. Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the abortion ban “both dangerous and incredibly cruel.” “We demand more for patients and providers, and we will continue fighting for everyone’s right to make their own decisions about their bodies, lives and futures,” she added.

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The initial suit listed numerous negative anticipated consequences of the ban. For example, Indiana’s infant and maternal mortality rates are already among our nation’s worst. “In 2020, 522 babies in Indiana died before their first birthday … about 10 babies every week. In 2019, 60 pregnancy-associated deaths occurred, and the Indiana Maternal Mortality Review Committee determined 80 percent of those deaths were preventable.” The infant mortality rate among Black, non-Hispanic children in Indiana is more than twice the infant mortality rate of non-Hispanic white babies. In contrast, legal abortion is one of the safest medical procedures and complications are rare. “The risk of death associated with childbirth is more than 12 times higher than that associated with abortion,” according to the August lawsuit. Indiana’s infant and maternal deaths are expected to rise if abortion care is prohibited.
Additionally, the plaintiffs argued Indiana’s abortion ban will disproportionally affect people of color and those with low incomes. “Nearly 75 percent of those who seek abortions nationwide have poverty-level incomes.”

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Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, explained the controversy: “This ban on abortion will force Hoosiers to carry pregnancies against their will, leading to life-altering consequences and serious health risks. … Whether Indiana elected officials personally agree with abortion access or not, it is not up to the government to make these decisions for Hoosiers.”

https://msmagazine.com/2022/09/09/aclu-lawsuit-indiana-abortion-ban-sb1/