A new Indiana law that could save 9,000 children’s lives every year just went into effect.
The Indiana Supreme Court has already upheld the state’s abortion ban to protect babies from abortions. And it upheld the law again today from a second pro-abortion challenge.
The 2022 law, Senate Bill 1, was the first to pass after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and prohibits killing unborn babies in abortions. Exceptions are allowed in very rare cases to prevent “serious health risk of the pregnant woman or to save the pregnant woman’s life,” if the child is diagnosed with a “lethal fetal anomaly” or if the mother is a victim of rape or incest; in these cases, the abortions must be performed in a hospital.
The Indiana Legislature passed the pro-life legislation in August 2022, but pro-abortion groups immediately filed a lawsuit and a judge blocked the law.
The high court eventually upehld the law and today, the ACLU-Planned Parenthood appeal to the Indiana Supreme Court for a rehearing of that prior decision was denied.That means the law will go into effect immediately.
In a split, 4-1 decision, high court justices reaffirmed in their order that Planned Parenthood and other health care providers “cannot show a reasonable likelihood of success” with their challenge to the abortion restrictions because there are cases in which the ban could be constitutionally enforced.
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Chief Justice Loretta H. Rush, who concurred with the ruling, reiterated in her own opinion that Indiana’s Constitution grants a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy “to protect her life or to protect her from a serious health risk … under circumstances that extend beyond the current law.”
Rush said the original injunction — which prevented the near-total abortion ban from being enforced in its entirety — was improper, and that “there is simply no sound legal basis for an interim injunction that is even broader than the relief plaintiffs intend to pursue in the trial court.”
She added that, “for good reason,” the judicial system requires those challenging the law to first seek narrower relief in the trial court, which unlike the state Supreme Court, “can receive and weigh competing evidence, including expert testimony.”
Attorney General Todd Rokita released the following statement regarding the Indiana Supreme Court’s opinion:
“My office promised to defend Indiana’s pro-life law, and we have done that every step of the way. Today, the Indiana Supreme Court certified its opinion rejecting a constitutional challenge to Indiana’s pro-life law, which protects the lives of innocent, unborn babies. This is great news for Hoosier life and liberty. We defeated the pro-death advocates who try to interject their views in a state that clearly voted for life.”
Indiana Right to Life President told LifeNews he was delighted with the state Supreme Court decision in which the court denied a rehearing of its ruling from June. He celebrated SEA 1 – making the law officially in effect.
“Today’s closing of all abortion clinics is a victory for unborn babies throughout Indiana. Our state is sending a message to the rest of the nation that when we stand together with love and compassion in protecting unborn babies and supporting pregnant mother, we save lives, improve lives and support a national culture that values life,” he said.
The abortion ban will save as many as 9,000 babies every year.
Fichter added: “We are encouraged by the expectation that 9,000 fewer babies will be aborted per year in the state of Indiana. This is truly an historic day, and we are so thankful to the tens of thousands of Hoosiers who worked so hard for over 50 years to bring this day about. And we know there are many opportunities ahead for Indiana to do even more in caring for babies and pregnant mothers. One of these opportunities will be protecting young girls from being trafficked to other states for abortions. We look forward to this and other policy discussions in the weeks ahead.”
Meanwhile, the number of abortions increased in Indiana as pregnant mothers traveled there from neighboring pro-life states. According to Indiana Right to Life, the state reported 9,529 abortions in 2022.
Mike Fichter, president and chief executive officer of the organization, said the new law means Indiana will no longer be a “final and fatal destination for unborn babies.”
While the law was blocked, Indiana “was essentially open borders on abortion, despite the will of millions of loving and compassionate Hoosiers represented in the passage of SEA 1,” Fichter said earlier this summer.
Indiana is facing several lawsuits challenging its pro-life law, including another by the Satanic Temple making a religious freedom argument. The satanic group believes killing unborn babies in abortions is a religious “ritual” and likens it to communion or baptism for Christians. In 2020, it even raffled off an abortion to raise money for its lawsuits.
Pro-life leaders estimate the law will save about 161 babies from abortion every day.
