BLOOMINGTON, Ind.--The state’s recently-passed abortion ban will likely go into effect Thursday, even though a lawsuit was filed last month by Planned Parenthood and other organizations to try and keep that from happening. But, the judge hearing the case set the first arguments for Monday.
The special judge appointed to hear the case is Kelsey Hanlon, a Republican from Owen County.
The lawsuit was filed in Bloomington, Aug. 31.
One provision of the new law is that abortion clinics can no longer function as such. Abortions can only happen in hospitals, as of Sept. 15, and only in cases of rape, incest and if the mother’s life will be in danger.
“The hospital requirement violates the constitution’s Equal Privileges clause,” said Rebecca Gibbron, president of national Planned Parenthood, one of several plaintiffs suing Indiana on the grounds that the new law violated Indiana’s constitution, rather than the national document.
“It treats abortion providers differently than other medical providers,” she said.
Ken Falk, legal director with the ACLU of Indiana, said he believes the law discriminates unjustifiably.
“There’s no justification in our estimation to discriminate against clinics in that way,” he said, adding that he and the organization believe clinics are the best place for the procedure.
“They’re safe, they’re cheap and they’re effective,” he said.
The lawsuit also says the organizations believe the Indiana constitution has an implicit right to privacy that would protect a woman’s decision to have an abortion, the same basic principle by which abortion was protected by the U.S. Constitution for 49 years under Roe v. Wade.
Gibbron also said Planned Parenthood is challenging the law because part of it is vague.
“SB 1 is unconstitutionally vague because it’s really unclear when in a pregnancy a physician can perform an abortion,” she said.
Indiana is the first state to pass new restrictions on abortion after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
