Global Courant
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the state’s abortion ban does not violate the state constitution, removing a major hurdle to enforcing the ban that Republicans approved last summer.
The court’s decision overturns a district judge’s ruling that the ban likely violates the state constitution’s privacy protections, which it says are stronger than those in the U.S. Constitution. That judge’s order has allowed abortions to continue in Indiana since September, despite the ban.
An opinion of three of the court’s five justices said that while the Indiana Constitution provides some protection of abortion rights, the “General Assembly further retains broad legislative authority to determine whether and to what extent abortions should be banned.”
All five justices of the Indiana Supreme Court were appointed by Republican governors.
Republican state attorney general Todd Rokita released a statement praising the decision: “We celebrate this day — a day long overdue, but morally justified. Thank you to all the warriors who fought for this day that sustains LIFE.”
The Indiana ban would lift licenses for all seven abortion clinics in the state and ban the vast majority of abortions, even in the earliest stages of pregnancy. It includes exceptions that allow hospital abortions in cases of rape or incest within 10 weeks of conception. It also allows abortions up to 20 weeks to protect the mother’s life and physical health or if a fetus is diagnosed with a fatal abnormality.
While the court decision struck down the ban blocking order, it was not immediately clear how soon the ban would take effect. The judges returned the case to the district judge for further action, leaving open the option of challenging the ban to a lesser extent.
Indiana’s abortion ban also faces a separate lawsuit over claims that it violates the 2015 Religious Freedom Act signed by the GOP administration at the time. Mike Pence.
Indiana became the first state to enact stricter abortion restrictions, acting in August, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal protections by reversing Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Most Republican-controlled states have introduced tougher abortion restrictions since the U.S. Supreme Court ruling last summer. All restrictions have been challenged in court.
In the past year, judges in Arizona, Iowa and South Carolina have ruled that the bans are not allowed under state constitutions. In addition to Indiana, enforcement of restrictions is suspended while courts rule on the cases in Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah and Wyoming. In North Dakota, lawmakers have since passed another ban to replace the blocked one. Another ban has been issued in South Carolina and put on hold by a court.
And on Friday, a federal judge blocked a small portion of North Carolina’s new abortion restrictions, putting other provisions into effect on Saturday. North Carolina has banned most abortions after 20 weeks; the new rules reduce it to 12 weeks but add new exceptions to 20 weeks for rape and incest cases and to 24 weeks for “life-limiting” fetal abnormalities. An emergency medical exception also remains in effect.
Democratic-led states, such as Illinois and Michigan, Indiana’s neighbors, have mostly taken steps to protect access to abortion.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, representing Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinic operators, argued in January in the Supreme Court that the liberty protections of the state constitution provide a right to privacy and to make decisions about whether or not to have children.
The Attorney General’s office countered that Indiana had laws against abortion when the current Constitution was drafted in 1851 and that the district judge’s ruling would falsely create a right to abortion.
The Indiana Supreme Court decision said the state constitution “protects a woman’s right to an abortion necessary to protect her life or to protect her from a serious health risk.”
However, the majority also found that the constitution “generally allows the General Assembly to prohibit abortions that are not necessary to protect a woman’s life or health, so long as the legislation complies with the constitutional limits that apply to all legislation , such as restricting such legislation to the proper exercise of police power and granting equal privileges and immunities.”
A separate lawsuit against the ban is underway as another district judge in December sided with residents who claim it violates the state’s religious freedom law, which Republican lawmakers pushed through in 2015 and led to a widespread national backlash when critics claimed it allowed discrimination against gay people. .
The state Supreme Court in January denied a request from the attorney general’s office to immediately hear the religious freedom lawsuit. The state’s Intermediate Court of Appeals will hear arguments on that lawsuit on Sept. 12.
Marion County Judge Heather Welch in December agreed with five residents of Jewish, Muslim and spiritual faith who argued that the ban would violate their religious rights if they believe abortion is acceptable. For now, it only directly affects those plaintiffs — legal experts say anyone claiming religious protection of their abortion rights will need their own court order.
