Abortion providers file lawsuit against Indiana’s pro-life law

Abortionists in Indiana have filed a lawsuit against the state regarding its law protecting nearly all preborn children from abortion.

In a statement released November 9, the ACLU of Indiana announced the lawsuit, which is seeking to broaden the scope of the current state exception that allows abortion in situations to protect the life or health of the mother (though directly and intentionally killing a preborn child is not medically necessary).

According to the law, abortion is only allowed in cases of “serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function.” The plaintiffs contend that this definition is “unconstitutionally narrow,” and they argue that women should be allowed to abort due to mental health conditions.

The plaintiffs are also opposed to the requirement that abortions only take place in hospitals because they say not enough hospitals are willing to commit abortions.

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“The hospital requirement makes abortion even more inaccessible because only a few hospitals, concentrated in the Indianapolis region, provide abortion, and they typically do so at much higher costs than abortion clinics, where nearly all abortions occurred before the ban,” reads the ACLU statement.

The Indiana Capital Chronicle reports that the plaintiffs have asked for three preliminary injunctions on the law — two that would stop the enforcement of the health risk language and one that would stop the requirement that abortions take place in hospitals.

“The fight isn’t over in Indiana,” read the joint statement from leaders from Planned Parenthood Federation of America; Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky; ACLU of Indiana; All-Options; the Lawyering Project; and Women’s Med. “While this would be a critical step forward for reproductive freedom, it would not restore access for most people seeking abortion in Indiana. We will continue working to support Hoosiers in getting abortions — and we will continue to fight until access is fully restored.”

A local pro-life organization, Voices for Life, is warning that this attempt by the abortion industry is just the first step in a larger push to overturn the law.

“The lawsuit is a move from the Indiana abortion industry to chip away at the protections of SEA 1,” the group wrote in a Facebook post. “Their ultimate goal is to make the health exception so broad that any abortion can be legally justified.”

According to multiple news reports, Attorney General Todd Rokita has not yet commented on this new litigation.