Indiana court temporarily blocks abortion ban

The Indiana ban aimed to replace state laws that generally prohibited abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy and tightly restricted them after the 13th week. The ban includes exceptions allowing abortions 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.

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Supreme Court issued an order Wednesday that prevents the state from enforcing a Republicanbacked abortion ban while it considers whether the ban violates the state constitution.

The court said in the order that it was taking over appeals of a judge’s decision last month that blocked the law a week after it took effect. It denied a request from the state attorney general’s office to set aside the preliminary injunction and scheduled a hearing on the lawsuit filed by abortion clinic operators for Jan. 12.

Owen County Judge Kelsey Hanlon blocked the law from being enforced, writing that “there is reasonable likelihood that this significant restriction of personal autonomy offends the liberty guarantees of the Indiana Constitution” and that the clinics will prevail in the lawsuit.

The ban was approved by the state’s Republican-dominated Legislature on Aug. 5 and signed by GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb. That made Indiana the first state to enact tighter abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade in June.

The five- member Supreme Court, all of whom were appointed by Republican governors, did not explain their decision. The order, signed by Chief Justice Loretta Rush, said “a majority” of the court agreed with its provisions but gave no further details.

The Indiana ban aimed to replace state laws that generally prohibited abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy and tightly restricted them after the 13th week. The ban includes exceptions allowing abortions 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.

Indiana’s seven abortion clinics were to lose their state licenses under the ban — which only permits abortions within its narrow exceptions to take place in hospitals or outpatient surgical centers.

Amy Hagstrom Miller, president of Whole Woman’s Health, said its South Bend clinic will likely resume appointments for abortion patients next week. Since the injunction was issued Sept. 22, the clinic has been able to replace staff members it lost after the ban took effect. That includes doctors who do the abortions, some of whom are now available to see patients through November, she said.

“That is some stability and security for the patients that we haven’t had in quite some time,” Hagstrom Miller told The Associated Press.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which is representing Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinic operators, filed the lawsuit Aug. 31. It argued that the ban would “prohibit the overwhelming majority of abortions in Indiana and, as such, will have a devastating and irreparable impact on the plaintiffs and, more importantly, their patients and clients.”