Whole Woman’s Health Alliance v. Rokita (Indiana)

(S.D. Ind. No. 1:18-cv-1904 / 7th Cir. Nos. 19-2051, 21-2480, 21-2573 / Sup. Ct. No. 19-743)

In recent years, Indiana politicians have mounted a relentless attack on people seeking and providing abortion care, enacting an increasingly complex web of laws that limit the availability and affordability of abortion for Indiana residents. This lawsuit sought to improve abortion access in Indiana and enable people to obtain abortion care without sacrificing their dignity or well-being.

In May 2019, the district court entered a preliminary injunction authorizing Whole Woman’s Health Alliance to open a new abortion clinic in South Bend, Indiana, despite the State’s unjustified refusal to grant it a required license. The preliminary injunction, which was affirmed by the Seventh Circuit, enabled the clinic to provide medication abortion in a region of Indiana that otherwise lacked abortion providers. Nearly three years later, the State finally agreed to grant the South Bend clinic a license to provide abortion care in exchange for the plaintiffs’ agreement to dismiss certain claims from the lawsuit. The other claims went to trial. Afterward, the district court entered a judgment declaring the following Indiana laws unconstitutional and permanently enjoining their enforcement:

a ban on qualified, advance-practice clinicians (APCs) providing medication abortions;
a requirement that second-trimester abortions be provided in a hospital or ambulatory surgical center (ASC);
medically unnecessary physical plant requirements for abortion clinics;
disclosure laws that require abortion providers to recite false and misleading information to their patients and distribute medically inaccurate materials;
an eighteen-hour waiting period for abortion patients; and
a ban on using telemedicine to provide medication abortion and pre-abortion counseling.

While the case was on appeal, the Supreme Court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Woman’s Health Organization, which overruled nearly fifty years of precedent holding that the Constitution protects abortion access as a fundamental right. As a result, the Seventh Circuit vacated the district court’s judgment.

Subsequently, in a stipulation of settlement, the parties agreed that the State would remove certain false and misleading language from a perinatal hospice brochure published by the Indiana Department of Health and the plaintiffs’ remaining claims would be dismissed without prejudice.

Plaintiffs:

All-Options, Inc.; Jeffrey Glazer, M.D.

Defendants:

Attorney General of the State of Indiana, in his official capacity; Commissioner of the Indiana State Department of Health, in her official capacity; President of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana, in his official capacity; St. Joseph County Prosecutor, in his official capacity

Co-counsel:

Lara Flath; Amy Van Gelder; Michael Powell; Kathrine D. Jack

Timeline and Key Documents:

October 21, 2022

District Court Enters Marginal Order Dismissing the Case without Prejudice

October 20, 2022

Parties File Stipulation of Settlement

February 21, 2022

Parties File Joint Notice, Stipulation, and Motion to Vacate Preliminary Injunction

September 8, 2021

Court of Appeals Enters Order Staying the District Court’s Judgment Pending Appeal

August 25, 2021