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

In recent years, Indiana politicians have mounted a relentless attack on the rights and dignity of people seeking abortion care, enacting an increasingly complex web of restrictive laws that have dramatically reduced the availability of abortion care in the State. Indiana has seven abortion clinics to serve nearly 1.3 million women of reproductive age, and abortion is effectively unavailable after the first trimester of pregnancy . Due to the limited number of providers, many patients must endure long waits to get an appointment. State law requires those who make it to a clinic to receive biased “counseling” that includes medically inaccurate information and then wait an additional eighteen hours (often longer in practice) before finally obtaining an abortion. Because of Indiana’s burdensome restrictions, a large number of Hoosiers travel out of state to access abortion care. Of course, not everyone has the resources to do that.

The lawsuit seeks to improve abortion access in Indiana and enable people to exercise their constitutional right to abortion 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 enables the clinic to provide medication abortion in a region of Indiana otherwise lacking abortion providers while the litigation runs its course.

The following categories of Indiana abortion restrictions are moving forward to trial: (1) targeted regulation of abortion provider (TRAP) laws; (2) laws that deny abortion patients the benefits of scientific progress; (3) biased counseling and waiting-period laws; and (4) laws that criminalize abortion care.

Whole Woman’s Health Alliance; All-Options, Inc.; Jeffrey Glazer, M.D.

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

Mollie M. Kornreich; Michael Powell; Kathrine D. Jack

Plaintiffs file Complaint

District court enters Case Management Plan

District court enters Order denying Defendants’ motion to dismiss

District court hears oral argument on Plaintiffs’ motion for Preliminary Injunction

Defendants file Answer to Complaint

District court enters Preliminary Injunction

Defendants file Notice of Appeal

District court enters Order denying Defendants’ motion to stay the injunction pending appeal

Court of appeals enters Order denying motion to stay the injunction pending appeal and modifying the Preliminary Injunction

Court of appeals hears oral argument

Court of appeals issues Opinion affirming the Preliminary Injunction as modified

Defendants file Petition for Writ of Certiorari in the Supreme Court challenging Preliminary Injunction

Plaintiffs file Brief in Opposition to Petition for Writ of Certiorari

District Court grants Order continuing bench trial to March 15, 2021

Supreme Court denies Petition for Writ of Certiorari

District Court enters Order granting in part and denying in part Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment

Press Release: Trial Begins Next Week in Legal Challenge to Multiple Indiana Abortion Restrictions

Media Advisory: ICYMI: Indiana Health Care Providers, Patients and Pregnancy Resource Center Detail Harms Caused by Abortion Restrictions; State Relies on Discredited, Anti-Abortion Activists in Defense