Indiana National Organization for Women President Julie Storbeck, of Valparaiso, called the appeal of a circuit court ruling to expand and clarify the medical exemptions of the state’s near-total abortion ban “valid and necessary.”
“The court’s refusal to deliver a sound ruling failed in its duty and it failed the people of Indiana when it essentially said there is no clear line establishing legal vs illegal care, and the courts were not going to draw one,” Storbeck said.
The ACLU of Indiana, the regional Planned Parenthood affiliate, All-Options, Inc. and Dr. Amy Caldwell filed the appeal last week with the Indiana Court of Appeals. As the case moves forward, the state’s restrictions on abortion will put patients at risk, according to the statement from the coalition.
“Hoosiers deserve better, and the Indiana Constitution demands better. We are resolute in our commitment to providing the highest quality services to our patients and clients and fighting for a future without political interference in personal health care decisions,” according to the statement.
Last month, Monroe County Judge Kelsey Blake Hanlon, who conducted a three-day bench trial in late May, denied abortion providers’ request for the permanent injunction against both elements of the state’s law, known as S.B. 1, which passed after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022.
“Significant and compelling evidence regarding the policy implications of S.B. 1 and its effect on medical professionals in particular was presented. However, the court cannot substitute its own policy preferences for that of the Indiana General Assembly,” wrote Hanlon, an elected Republican from a different county who was appointed as a special judge in the case.
Indiana’s clinics stopped providing abortions shortly before the ban officially took effect in August 2023.
After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Indiana saw “a race to the bottom” as Republicans in the legislature moved quickly to pass a near-total abortion ban, Storbeck said. Those legislators seemed more interested in passing the ban than in considering the ramifications of the ban, she said.
“Doctors, patients, family members, and communities are all being negatively impacted in innumerable ways by this ill-conceived and reckless ban,” Storbeck said.