As of Tuesday, a new law in Indiana has rendered around 95% of abortions in the state illegal.
Passed in August 2022, the law bans all abortions, barring certain exceptions like cases of rape or incest in the first ten weeks, or in circumstances where the mother’s health undergoes “substantial and irreversible physical impairment,” LifeSiteNews reports.
Additionally, the law permits the termination of pregnancies where the unborn child has an “irremediable medical condition that is incompatible with sustained life outside the womb,” up to 20 weeks.
Non-hospital facilities such as Planned Parenthood are prohibited from conducting abortions under this law.
On June 30, the state’s supreme court ruled in favor of enforcing the law.
Despite this, a legal challenge is ongoing, led by the ACLU, which claims that the law infringes on the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act and impedes the religious liberty of pro-abortion citizens.
A statement last August from Indiana Right to Life, a pro-life group, expressed concern about the exceptions provided in the law, saying, “While we cannot fully endorse the amended SB1 due to its rape, incest, and lethal fetal anomaly exceptions, we acknowledge the path forward is either the potential to end the vast majority of abortions in Indiana, beginning with the closure of Indiana abortion clinics in mid-September, or allowing all abortions to continue under current law, as women from Ohio, Kentucky, and other states travel to Indiana for abortions.”
The group remains optimistic that the law, as it stands, could potentially lead to a 95% reduction in the 8,414 abortions reported in Indiana.
In compliance with the new law, Planned Parenthood has confirmed it will stop performing abortions, though it will continue to offer referrals to other facilities where abortions can be carried out.
