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Indiana Circuit Court Declines to Broaden Exception to Dangerously Restrictive Abortion Ban

09.11.2024 — (PRESS RELEASE) More than one year after Indiana’s criminal abortion ban took effect, an Indiana circuit court ruled against abortion providers and a pregnancy resource center and declined to broaden and clarify the scope of the ban’s narrow and ambiguous health and life exception despite ample evidence that it prevents Indiana physicians from providing critical abortion care to patients. The court also declined to block the requirement that any abortions provided under the ban’s limited exceptions take place in a hospital. This decision means that Hoosiers are left with dangerously limited options, even if they experience serious pregnancy complications.

Joint statement from Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, ACLU of Indiana, All-Options, the Lawyering Project:

“Today’s decision means that pregnant Hoosiers’ lives will continue to be endangered by Indiana’s abortion ban. Already, Hoosiers with serious health complications have been forced to endure unjustifiable suffering due to miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and other pregnancy-related issues or leave the state to access appropriate care. Hoosiers deserve better, and the Indiana Constitution demands better. We will continue to serve patients as best as possible and work towards a future where patients and their doctors can make decisions without politicians in their exam rooms.” 

In its decision, the court acknowledged the challenge that the law poses to providing emergency abortion care, writing that physicians are “in the incredibly unenviable position of providing exigent obstetrical care in a politically charged environment and under a new statutory regime that includes potential criminal liability and license revocation.” 

The legal challenge was brought by All-Options, Inc, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky and Dr. Amy Caldwell and followed a 2023 Indiana Supreme Court ruling affirming that the Indiana Constitution protects the right to an abortion necessary to protect a patient from serious health risks. Plaintiffs are represented Lawyering Project, the ACLU of Indiana, Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and WilmerHale.

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