INDIANAPOLIS — A federal appeals court judge struck down a provision of Indiana's abortion law, which prohibits doctors and health care providers from providing minors with information about out-of-state abortions.
The provision kept those health care workers from telling a minor about states where parental consent wasn't needed for an abortion.
Abortion has been banned in Indiana – with only a few exceptions – since August 2023.
“Given Indiana’s near-total ban on abortions in the state, it is extremely important that medical providers and other persons retain the ability to inform patients, including minors, of their out-of-state options for receiving this vital health care," said Gavin Rose, senior staff attorney for ACLU of Indiana.
Indiana’s Republican-backed ban ended most abortions in the state, even in the earliest stages of a pregnancy. Indiana became the first state to enact tighter abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court ended nearly a half-century of federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
Abortions would be permitted in cases of rape and incest, before 10 weeks post-fertilization – to protect the life and physical health of the mother – and if a fetus is diagnosed with a lethal anomaly.
Victims of rape and incest would not be required to sign a notarized affidavit attesting to an attack, as had once been proposed.
Under the bill, abortions can be performed only in hospitals or outpatient centers owned by hospitals. A doctor who performs an "illegal abortion" or fails to file required reports will lose their medical license.
