Indiana judge refuses to broaden medical exception to abortion ban

[September 12, 2024]  By Brendan Pierson

(Reuters) - An Indiana judge on Wednesday refused to broaden the medical exception to the state's near-total abortion ban, ruling against a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.

Judge Kelsey Hanlon of Monroe County Circuit Court acknowledged that the ban, which makes an exception for a "serious health risk" to the mother, put providers in "the incredibly unenviable position" of providing care in a "politically charged environment" under threat of criminal prosecution or loss of their licenses.

However, the judge said the plaintiffs had not shown that the exception would prohibit an abortion in violation of women's rights under the state constitution.

Planned Parenthood and the other plaintiffs had asked the judge for a court order setting out that the exception must be interpreted to allow abortion in the case of a health condition that requires treatment that would endanger the fetus, causes debilitating symptoms during pregnancy, or is likely to become life-threatening or cause lasting damage to the mother's health.

The ban defines a serious health risk as "a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function."

The plaintiffs said that was too narrow, and that without a clarifying court order, doctors might wait to treat dangerous medical conditions until they become deadly. But Hanlon said the exception did not require them to wait that long and allowed them to use their "reasonable medical judgment."

"Today's decision means that pregnant Hoosiers' lives will continue to be endangered by Indiana's abortion ban," Planned Parenthood, the other plaintiffs and their attorneys said in a joint statement. "We are still considering all of our options."

Abortion rights demonstrators protest outside the House chambers in the Indiana Statehouse during a special session to debate banning abortion in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. August 2, 2022. REUTERS/Cheney Orr/File Photo

Hanlon, who was elected as a Republican, blocked Indiana's abortion ban in 2022, saying it violated the right to personal autonomy under the state constitution.

"Indiana's pro-life law is both reasonable and constitutional, and we're pleased the Monroe County Circuit Court upheld it," Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said on X.

The Indiana Supreme Court last year disagreed and revived the law, but also found that the state constitution included a right to abortion to save the mother's life or protect against serious health risks. It sent the case back to Hanlon, who held a trial in May on the plaintiffs' motion to broaden the medical exception.

Indiana is one of more than 20 Republican-led states that has banned or restricted abortion in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling eliminating the longstanding constitutional right to abortion. Some of those laws have since been blocked in court or overturned by ballot measures.

Lawsuits have been filed over medical exceptions in other states. The Texas Supreme Court in June ruled against a lawsuit seeking to expand and clarify the exception in that state, and the U.S. Supreme Court allowed emergency abortions in hospitals to continue in Idaho for now while a lawsuit over the issue continues.

At least nine states are expected to vote on ballot measures to guarantee abortion rights in the Nov. 5 election.

(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Deepa Babington)

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