Indiana Supreme Court declares law restricting abortion to be constitutional
Pro-life advocates fill the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis on July 26, 2022, while the Indiana General Assembly held a special session regarding the state’s abortion law following the June 2022 overturning of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. (File photo by Sean Gallagher)
By Natalie Hoefer
Indiana’s 2022 law protecting most unborn lives from abortion, which has been under a preliminary injunction since Sept. 22 of last year, was declared constitutional by the Indiana Supreme Court in a ruling released on June 30.
The law limits abortion up to 10 weeks gestation in instances of rape or incest, up to 20 weeks gestation in cases of lethal fetal anomalies, or when the mother’s life is in danger from specific medical issues. It also requires that abortions take place at a hospital or a hospital-owned surgery center, essentially shutting the doors of abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood in the state.
Unless the plaintiffs—Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers—seek a rehearing, the law will go into effect on Aug. 1, according to a June 30 article at the online Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Meanwhile, a second suit against the law, based on the grounds of religious freedom, is making its way through the state’s appellate courts. While a preliminary injunction was placed on the law as result of this case, the Indiana Capital Chronical notes that this “injunction only applies to the plaintiffs in the case”—Hoosier Jews for Choice and four anonymous women.
Archbishop Charles C. Thompson lauded the June 30 decision.
“The Church applauds all efforts of the state, including its courts, to safeguard the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human being from the moment of conception to natural death,” he told The Criterion. “Let us not waver in our care for both mother and child, both persons and families.”
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita released a statement after the ruling, declaring, “We celebrate this day—one long in coming, but morally justified. Thank you to all the warriors who have fought for this day that upholds LIFE.”
Right to Life Indianapolis president Marc Tuttle also weighed in on the ruling, calling it a “big victory.”
“This is a big victory in the fight to protect the life of unborn babies, and to protect pregnant mothers from the often lifelong trauma of abortion,” Tuttle said in a statement. “This case is also a victory in that Indiana was the first state to pass pro-life legislation since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade [in June 2022], making it clear there was never a right to abortion established in the U.S. Constitution.
“Now the work ahead is to ensure that we, as loving and compassionate Hoosiers, provide the support that pregnant mothers and their babies need to thrive and succeed.”
A decision nine months in the making
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on June 24, 2022, overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion, Indiana became the first state to initiate a special session of its General Assembly to reassess the state’s abortion law in place at the time.
The result was Senate Bill 1. It became Senate Enrolled Act 1 (SEA 1) when it was signed into law on Aug. 6, 2022. The law, which greatly increased the legal protection afforded to unborn children in the state, went into effect on Sept. 15, 2022.
Just seven days later, a preliminary injunction was placed on the law in a legal challenge filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that claimed the law violated the Indiana constitution. The injunction put back into place Indiana’s abortion law as it stood prior to Sept. 15, which allowed abortion up to 20 weeks gestation, including at independent abortion centers.
The Indiana Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the case on Jan. 19, taking about five months before declaring SEA 1 does not violate the Indiana constitution.
As for the religious freedom suit filed against SEA 1 last fall, Rokita has filed three appeals now making their way through the Indiana Appellate Courts: one against the case itself; one against a preliminary injunction on SEA 1, with oral arguments to be heard on Sept. 12; and one against a Marion County judge’s June 6 decision to grant the case “class action” status.
Indiana became ‘an abortion destination’
The cost of unborn lives due to the preliminary injunction in the ACLU case was extensive. According to the Indiana Department of Health’s recently released Termination of Pregnancy report, nonresident abortions were up significantly in 2022.
“This was the result of abortion-industry hysteria, pre-emptive pro-life laws in Ohio and Kentucky that went into effect upon the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the time it took for Indiana’s legislation to pass, and judicial activism blocking Indiana’s new law from being in effect,” said Mike Fichter, president and CEO of Indiana Right to Life, in a July 7 press release. “Together this combination of actions doomed Indiana to become an abortion destination state. This is exactly what we warned would happen, and it did.”
The result was 9,529 abortions in the state in 2022. According to the press release, that figure is the largest annual number since 2010. The majority of Indiana abortions in 2022 were performed at abortion clinics, with nearly half conducted at Planned Parenthood locations.
“Sadly, the 2022 reported abortion complications increased by 600% over the number of abortion complications reported in 2021,” said Fichter. “Abortion is traumatic to women—mentally, emotionally, and the state’s latest report underscores abortion presents real life-threatening complications as well.”
The press release noted that there were 100 reported abortion complications in 2022, including one death, uterine perforation, incomplete abortions (retained tissue) and cervical laceration. Most of the complications—72%—arose from medical rather than surgical abortions.
“Last year 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 in the press release. “We are hopeful the recent Indiana Supreme Court ruling ends this exploitation by abortion businesses in Indiana. Each day the law remains inactive is another day where Indiana becomes the final and fatal destination for unborn babies.” †
