INDIANAPOLIS – On June 30th, 2023, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled in favor of Republicans’ near-total abortion ban. On Tuesday, this ban goes back into effect, banning reproductive freedom for thousands of Hoosier families.
Since the injunction was vacated, patients have had to leave the state to access abortion, seek it outside of the healthcare system (and run the risk of the abortion being performed illegally), or carry pregnancies against their will.
State Senator Andrea Hunley (D-Indianapolis) in The Indiana Lawyer, 06-30-23 said, “There is no court, no law that can ban abortions – they can only ban the safe administration of abortions and send desperate women to unsafe, underground providers. Abortion laws aren’t pro-life – they are only pro-birth.”
Another lawsuit argues the abortion law violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), but currently only protects reproductive services for the five plaintiffs. However, the ACLU is asking the state to extend the block to cover a wider sector of women affected by the ban and abortion providers.
“Today is a devastating loss for countless Hoosier women and families. Without a comprehensive block to this ban, the right to choose has been taken away with the Republican supermajority’s crusade against women,” said Indiana Democratic Party Executive Director ZeNai Brooks.
“What Republicans refuse to acknowledge is that upholding and sustaining equal access to reproductive healthcare is not a cultural issue to Hoosier families: it’s a safety net. Families need it, and Republicans choose to ignore the facts: over 60 percent of Indiana residents want abortion to remain legal in all or most cases. If they truly cared about reflecting the values of Hoosiers, this law would have never passed. However, they only care about appealing to their base, not governing for the majority.
Democrats understand that reproductive healthcare doesn’t stop at safe abortions, though; we need funding for childcare programs, contraceptives, and sexual education at the local and federal levels. In the wake of this ban, Hoosiers deserve the ability to decide this issue directly at the ballot box, like our neighbors in Michigan, Kentucky, and soon, Ohio, have had the right to do.
