INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Operators of Indiana’s abortion clinics filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block the state’s abortion ban before it takes effect in about two weeks. .
A lawsuit filed in Monroe County Court argues that a ban, including limited exceptions, violates the Indiana Constitution and “denies the fundamental rights of those seeking abortion care.” Sept. 15 It called on judges to block the law from being enforced, saying the ban “violates the Hoosiers’ right to privacy, violates Indiana’s guarantee of equal privileges and immunities, and contains unconstitutional vague language.” claims that
Indiana’s Republican-dominated state legislature approved tougher abortion restrictions during a two-week special legislative session that ended Aug. 5. This made her the first state since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned her Roe v. Wade decision to remove federal abortion protection for abortions. June.
Indiana law includes exceptions that allow abortion within 10 weeks of conception for rape and incest. To protect the life and physical health of the mother. If the fetus is diagnosed with a lethal abnormality.
The legal question of whether the Indiana constitution protects abortion rights is unclear, said Ken Falk, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in Indiana, which filed the lawsuit.
Falk pointed to a 2004 state appeals court ruling that said privacy is a core value under state constitutions that apply to all residents, including women seeking abortions. However, the Indiana Supreme Court later upheld a law requiring a woman to wait 18 hours before having an abortion, but did not decide whether the state’s constitution contained privacy or abortion rights. Is not …
The leader of Indiana’s most prominent anti-abortion group argued that the state’s constitution protects life as one of its “nontransferable rights.”
The CEO of Light to Life, Indiana said, “I’m confident the state will win and I hope it doesn’t prevent the new law from taking effect September 15th.” Fictor said in a statement.
Jennifer Drobach, a law professor at Indiana University, argued that the state constitution prohibits legislators from depriving some residents of legal privileges available to others. He said he believed it was a strong argument to the contrary.
“If you look at pregnant people, their medical care is regulated, just as medical care is not regulated for non-pregnant people,” she said. access to all available medical resources in
Under Indiana’s new law, abortions can only be performed in hospitals or hospital-owned outpatient centers, making all abortion clinics unlicensed. Physicians found to have performed illegal abortions can face serious felony charges, including loss of state medical license and up to six years in prison.
Indiana’s ban follows political uproar over a 10-year-old rape victim traveling to the state from neighboring Ohio to terminate her pregnancy. The case received widespread attention when an Indianapolis doctor said the child had come to Indiana because of Ohio’s “fetal heartbeat” ban.
The lawsuit represents abortion rights advocates, including Planned Parenthood, which operates four of Indiana’s seven licensed abortion clinics, and groups that run two other clinics and abortion doctors. was filed.
It will be heard by judges in Monroe County in southern Indiana, which includes the liberal-leaning city of Bloomington and Indiana University’s main campus. Nine of her nine judges in the county are all Democrats, but every other county with an abortion clinic has a judge elected as a Republican or appointed by a Republican governor. increase.
ACLU’s Falk said the lawsuit was filed in Monroe County, where the abortion clinic is located, but did not respond to questions about whether the group wanted a friendly judge.
Drobach believes filing a complaint in Bloomington may be where ban opponents have the “greatest chance of success.”
Republican legislative leaders said they believed abortion restrictions would be upheld by the courts.
In a statement, Senate Speaker Rodrick Bray said, “We have set out to pass a bill that will save lives and help mothers and babies in a special legislature, and we have done so.” “It has always been our intention to draft a bill that can withstand constitutional challenge, and we hope it will come to pass.”
Arleigh Rodgers is a member of the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to cover hidden issues. Follow Arleigh Rodgers on her Twitter. https://twitter.com/arleighrodgers
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