ACLU sues Indiana over near-ban on most common second-trimester abortion procedure

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has filed a lawsuit against the state two days after Gov. Eric Holcomb signed two abortion measures into law.

Specifically, the ACLU is challenging House Enrolled Act 1211, which bans dilation-and-evacuation abortions except when the mother is at risk of "substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function" or when the fetus is no longer viable.

Dilation and evacuation is the most common type of second-trimester abortion in Indiana, according to Indiana State Department of Health data. However, second-trimester abortions overall are rare in the state. Indiana providers used this method 27 times in 2017 — or for 0.35 percent of all abortions that year — department data showed.

Nevertheless, opponents of the measure emphasize that dilation and evacuation can oftentimes be the safest way to abort a fetus during the second trimester. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says it has fewer complications than other types of abortions in the second trimester.

Read more: https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2019/04/26/abortion-laws-aclu-sues-indiana-over-banning-dilation-and-evacuations/3585147002/