The Indiana Supreme Court lifted an injunction that had been blocking a near-total abortion ban from taking effect. The law can take effect as soon as Aug. 1.
However, a second injunction remains in effect as a result of a separate lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana (ACLU) on behalf of Hoosier Jews for Choice.
That suit claims the law violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The injunction is being appealed, and it’s not clear how that immediately impacts abortion access given the Supreme Court’s ruling.
According to the opinion, the state constitution “protects a woman’s right to an abortion that is necessary to protect her life or to protect her from a serious health risk, but the General Assembly otherwise retains broad legislative discretion for determining whether and the extent to which to prohibit abortions.”
The law contains limited exceptions for serious risk to the health or life of a pregnant person, diagnoses of a “lethal fetal anomaly” and rape or incest, before 10 weeks post-fertilization.
Meanwhile in North Carolina, virtually all of the state’s sweeping 12-week ban is set to take effect on Saturday after a federal judge temporarily blocked just one provision of the law.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles blocked a provision requiring doctors to document in a medical record the existence of a pregnancy in the uterus when prescribing or administering abortion drugs until July 14.
Plaintiffs and defendants in the lawsuit are meeting between now and then to work out a schedule for the next steps.
But, Eagles wrote that the law’s other provisions challenged by a Planned Parenthood lawsuit — such as conflicting language that set a separate 10-week cut off for medication abortion — were addressed by last-minute updates passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper (D) Thursday night.
The law bans any licensed physician from performing abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy. It provides exceptions in the case of rape and incest through 20 weeks of pregnancy or in the event of a “life-limiting anomaly” through 24 weeks.
The law also requires all patients to have two in-person doctor visits 72 hours apart, and patients who choose medication abortion to schedule a third visit.
To read the full North Carolina and Indiana rulings, visit TheHill.com.
