Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has appealed the Mar. 31 ultrasound ruling by federal judge Tanya Pratt that favored Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky sued the state over the ultrasound provision in the 2016 Dignity for the Unborn law.
Indiana has long required that an ultrasound be done before an abortion, but in 2016 the law was updated to require that the ultrasound be done at least 18-hours before the abortion. Women are already required to received informed consent information at least 18-hours prior to an abortion, so this change aligned the two requirements into the same time frame.
Last month, the co-authors and sponsors of the Dignity for the Unborn law urged Hill to appeal Pratt’s ultrasound ruling in a letter, available here.
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“The pro-life community is pleased Attorney General Hill is defending our state’s common sense ultrasound law,” said Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. “It’s disappointing that Planned Parenthood turns to activist judges anytime they find an abortion law they don’t like.”
Pratt has a history of siding with the abortion industry. Before the 2016 ban on abortion for the sole reason of the child’s sex, race, national origin or a potential disability could go into effect, Pratt sided with Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union and blocked the law.
When Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit against the 18-hour ultrasound law, it admitted it only had ultrasound machines at four of its then-23 locations around the state. In contrast, there are more than 50 ultrasound machines at pregnancy resource centers around the state providing free services to pregnant women. The ultrasound machines at pregnancy resource centers have been purchased by gifts from thousands of Hoosiers who care deeply about women and their health, and who believe women deserve to be truly informed about their pregnancies.
