Tighter abortion restrictions pass the Indiana House, move on to Senate

Feb. 21 update: The Indiana House voted 71-26 to pass a bill banning "dilation and evacuation" abortions, the most common second-trimester abortion procedure, except for in cases where there is a significant health risk to the mother. 

The bill now moves to the Senate.

Original story published Feb. 14: Indiana lawmakers are pushing to outlaw the most common second-trimester abortion procedure, except when there's a serious health risk to the mother — emboldened in part by what they see as an expansion of abortion access in other states.

In other states, similar bans have led to lawsuits.

Conservatives in Indiana and across the nation were outraged after New York state passed a law allowing women to get an abortion at any point in their pregnancy if "there is an absence of fetal viability, or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.” Soon after, a Virginia bill that would loosen abortion restrictions made headlines.

House Speaker Brian Bosma said the New York law and Virginia bill encouraged some anti-abortion lawmakers in Indiana to take action.

"It just places such a low value on life," Bosma said. "So yes, I think it has reinvigorated those who considered themselves to be pro-life to take action."

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That action comes in the form of House Bill 1211, which would outlaw "dismemberment abortions" — defined as when parts of the fetus are ripped or cut off and extracted using scissors, forceps or clamps — except when the mother is at risk of "substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function," or the fetus is no longer viable. Medically, the procedure is referred to as "dilation and evacuation."

Opponents of the measure emphasized that the procedure can oftentimes be the safest way to abort a fetus during the second trimester. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says dilation and evacuation has fewer complications than other types of abortions in the second trimester.

In most cases, a second-trimester abortion is only performed if there are health issues related to either the fetus or the mom, opponents of the bill said. They also contend that any decision involving an abortion should stay between a woman and her physician.

"When it’s time to seek counsel on an important medical decision, I beg the question, 'Who would you turn to first, your state representative or your doctor?'" asked Wanda Savala, public affairs manager for Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky?

But supporters of the legislation called the practice inhumane and explained the procedure in graphic detail, during the contentious three-and-a-half-hour committee hearing Thursday. Corrine Youngs, an attorney for Indiana Right to Life, showed an ultrasound of her twins at 11 weeks in the womb.

“Do we think its good public policy or not to perform this on a still-living human being?" asked bill author Rep. Peggy Mayfield, R-Martinsville. "I think the public outcry, especially (after recent action in other statehouses), just dictates that we address some procedures for what they are and, in our role of a policymaking body, decide what is the direction that we want to go as a state.”

Dilation and evacuation is the most common type of second-trimester abortion in Indiana, according to Indiana State Department of Health data. However, second-trimester abortions overall are rare in the state. Indiana providers used this method 27 times — or 0.35 percent of all abortions in 2017, department data showed.

The state doesn't keep statistics on the reasons for abortions.

In the courts

Even before the passage of New York's new abortion language, Republican-led states across the U.S. have been emboldened by the new makeup of the Supreme Court. Meanwhile liberal-leaning states, worried about what that means for abortion access in their own states, have started proposing laws to reaffirm abortion rights. 

The result: a flurry of abortion-related bills across the U.S. 

In December, Ohio lawmakers passed a bill — nearly identical to Indiana's legislation — criminalizing dilation and evacuation abortions.

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Other similar bills have prompted litigation. Alabama's attorney general filed a petition to the Supreme Court after that state's law banning dilation and evacuation abortions was blocked in the lower courts. Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill filed an amicus brief with 19 other states asking the Supreme Court to hear the case.

Only a few of about 10 states that have enacted similar legislation have avoided any court involvement over their new law.

Indiana is no stranger to abortion-related lawsuits. Just last week, Hill filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court to determine the constitutionality of a state law requiring an ultrasound at least 18 hours before an abortion. That law — signed in 2016 by then-Gov. Mike Pence — has yet to take effect because a lower-court injunction.

A different, more restrictive bill at the Statehouse that would ban all abortions won't move forward this year because of fears that it would be found unconstitutional.

Youngs told lawmakers Thursday that the bill's language should be found constitutional. But Rep. Sean Eberhart, R-Shelbyville, pointed out she's been wrong before on other Indiana laws that ended up in the courts.

"Why should we believe you 'cause you’ve told us this before?" Eberhart asked.

The House Public Policy committee will vote on House Bill 1211 on Monday.

Call IndyStar Statehouse reporter Kaitlin Lange at 317-432-9270. Follow her on Twitter: @kaitlin_lange.