Indiana Supreme Court Refuses Review of Abortion Ban Challenge

Indiana law allows abortions only in limited cases involving serious health risks.

A woman holds a placard saying, No Forced Births, as — Source: SOPA Images / Getty

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Supreme Court denied Planned Parenthood’s request to move its challenge of the state’s near-total abortion ban to the high court.

The decision leaves in place an Indiana Court of Appeals ruling from August 2025 that upheld the abortion law.

Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers sued in 2024, asking a Monroe County judge to expand medical exceptions and block the law’s hospital-only requirement for abortions.

Indiana law allows abortions only in limited cases involving serious health risks, lethal fetal anomalies, or rape and incest.

The lawsuit argued the law’s exceptions were too narrow and unclear and that the hospital-only requirement limited access to care.

Indiana lawmakers approved Senate Bill 1 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Former Governor Eric Holcomb later signed the bill into law.

A separate legal challenge involving religious freedom claims is still pending before the Indiana Supreme Court.

After Thursday’s ruling, the ACLU of Indiana said it was disappointed the law would remain in effect. Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita called the decision a win for the state.