Medical Care and Civil Rights Organizations File Lawsuits Against Indiana Abortion Ban

Medical Care and Civil Rights Organizations File Lawsuits Against Indiana Abortion Ban
9/9/2022 by Dr. Jennifer Ann Drobac



An abortion rights activist holds a sign reading, “Not your baby making factory,” as the Indiana House of Representatives voted to ban abortion on Aug. 5, during a special session in Indianapolis. Gov. Holcomb signed the bill into law. (Jeremy Hogan / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana filed two lawsuits opposing the state’s new abortion ban, S.B. 1, set to go into effect on Sept. 15. The first suit, filed on Aug. 30, sought to enjoin enforcement of S.B. 1. The ACLU represents Planned Parenthood, Women’s Med Group Professional Corporation, Whole Women’s Health Alliance, Dr. Amy Caldwell and All-Options, Inc., against the members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana and select county prosecutors, who are expected to enforce the law if it goes into effect. On Sept. 8, the ACLU filed an additional lawsuit, this time on behalf of Hoosier Jews for Choice and five women. The class-action suit argued S.B. 1 violates the state’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, since not all religions believe that life happens at the moment of conception.

Indiana GOP-Led Legislature Passes S.B. 1 During Special Session

Indiana’s Republican-dominated legislature passed S.B. 1 in a special August session called by Gov. Eric Holcomb, who signed the law the night it passed on Aug. 5. The new law declares “human physical life begins when a human ovum is fertilized by a human sperm.” Indiana is the first state to pass an abortion ban following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. This case prompted the demise of abortion protections, established almost 50 years ago in Roe v. Wade. Alexis McGill Johnson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, called the abortion ban “both dangerous and incredibly cruel.” “We demand more for patients and providers, and we will continue fighting for everyone’s right to make their own decisions about their bodies, lives and futures,” she added.

The Aug. 30 lawsuit claims that S.B. 1 will “virtually eliminate abortion access across the state.” The ban provides for only three limited exceptions: cases of rape or incest before 10 weeks post fertilization; pregnancies threatening the life or physical (but not mental) health of the pregnant person; and cases involving lethal fetal anomalies. Additionally, it shutters licensed abortion clinics, where most abortions occur in the state. Instead, it requires that abortion care occur in a hospital or a majority hospital-owned ambulatory outpatient surgical center (“ASC”) regardless of gestational age. S.B. 1 will needlessly increase the expense for abortion care by ten-fold in many cases, according to the suit, even though abortions in outpatient clinics are as safe as abortions in hospitals and ASCs. “Abortion bans are designed to dehumanize people by chipping away at their dignity, disregarding their health and well-being, and telling them that the future they are creating for themselves and their families is less important than a politician’s agenda,” said Rupali Sharma, senior counsel and director of the Lawyering Project.

The initial suit listed numerous negative anticipated consequences of the ban. For example, Indiana’s infant and maternal mortality rates are already among our nation’s worst.

“In 2020, 522 babies in Indiana died before their first birthday … about 10 babies every week. In 2019, 60 pregnancy-associated deaths occurred, and the Indiana Maternal Mortality Review Committee determined 80 percent of those deaths were preventable.”
The infant mortality rate among Black, non-Hispanic children in Indiana is more than twice the infant mortality rate of non-Hispanic white babies. In contrast, legal abortion is one of the safest medical procedures and complications are rare. “The risk of death associated with childbirth is more than 12 times higher than that associated with abortion,” according to the August lawsuit. Indiana’s infant and maternal deaths are expected to rise if abortion care is prohibited.

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Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, explained the controversy: “This ban on abortion will force Hoosiers to carry pregnancies against their will, leading to life-altering consequences and serious health risks. … Whether Indiana elected officials personally agree with abortion access or not, it is not up to the government to make these decisions for Hoosiers.”

https://msmagazine.com/2022/09/09/aclu-lawsuit-indiana-abortion-ban-sb1/