Nov 9 (Reuters) – A group of Indiana abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood, is asking a judge for an order guaranteeing the right to an abortion to protect the life or health of the mother, which the state’s highest court recently recognized in a ruling that which otherwise confirmed an almost-total ban on abortion.
In a motion filed Thursday in Monroe County Circuit Court, the providers said the exception to the ban allowing abortions in cases of “serious health risk” to the mother was not specific enough.
They are seeking a court order stating that the exception should be interpreted to allow abortion in the case of a medical condition that requires treatment that would endanger the fetus, cause debilitating symptoms during pregnancy, or is likely to become life-threatening or cause permanent damage to the mother’s health.
Without a court order, they say, doctors may wait to treat dangerous medical conditions until they become deadly, for fear of being prosecuted or losing their licenses.
Providers said some patients in the state have already been denied medically necessary abortions by hospitals where they first sought treatment and transferred elsewhere.
“Requiring patients to wait to be transferred to another hospital before receiving the necessary treatment in such situations for fear of liability under the (ban) dramatically and unnecessarily increases the medical risks to the patient and can have dire and lasting consequences for their health,” it said. says in motion.
The providers are also asking the court to block a provision in the state ban requiring all abortions to be performed in hospitals, saying it makes it difficult or impossible for many Indiana residents to obtain an abortion necessary to protect their life or health because few hospitals provide such care, and most are clustered near Indianapolis, the state’s largest city.
The office of Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, who is defending the law against legal challenge, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Republican-controlled Indiana Legislature passed its abortion ban in August 2022. In addition to life and health exemptions, the law also allows abortion in cases of rape or incest for minors in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
It was the first new abortion ban passed since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade precedent that guaranteed abortion rights nationwide. More than 20 Republican-led states now ban or greatly restrict abortion.
Planned Parenthood and others quickly sued to challenge the law. Judge Kelsey Hanlon, who was elected as a Republican, blocked it in September 2022, saying it violated the right to personal autonomy in the state constitution.
The state Supreme Court in June disagreed and reinstated the law, but also found that the state constitution includes a right to abortion to save the mother’s life or protect against serious health risks.
The case is Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai’i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky Inc et al v. Members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana et al, Monroe County Circuit Court, No. 53C06-2208-PL-001756.
For Plaintiffs: Kenneth Falk of the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, Katherine Humphreyville of Planned Parenthood, and others
About the country: not available
Read more:
Indiana lawmakers approved the state’s first abortion ban since Roe was overturned
Indiana Supreme Court allows almost total ban on abortion
US Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade, ends constitutional right to abortion
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