Further restrictions for Indiana's near-total abortion ban died. Advocates remain concerned

Lawmakers filed several bills to further restrict abortion access and strengthen reporting requirements in Indiana — which already has a near-total abortion ban.

Reproductive rights advocates said even though the bills didn’t move forward, they’re concerned lawmakers will continue to pursue the policies in the future.

Haley Bougher, Indiana director for Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates, said the policies would likely have adverse effects for Hoosiers.

“As soon as session started, we saw numerous extremely hostile and dangerous anti-abortion and sexual reproductive health bills drop,” Bougher said.

None of the legislation related to abortion received a committee hearing in the first half of the legislative session.

The bills included policies that ranged from requiring the state to release individual terminated pregnancy reports in Senate Bill 240 to criminalizing abortion in House Bill 1334. Several bills specifically criminalized abortion-inducing drugs, such as Senate Bill 245 and Senate Bill 171, while others prohibited government funding from being used to provide abortion care, including Senate Bill 170 and House Bill 1212.

Those are only some of the proposed policies.

Bougher said there’s a national trend to criminalize abortion or penalize providers.

“It's scaring providers from being here and providing this care in our state,” Bougher said. “And it's scaring Hoosiers from wanting to be pregnant in this state.”

Providers have cited the near-total abortion ban as an obstacle for training new OB-GYNs, but also for keeping them in the state.

“Not only is this trying to chip away at the ban that’s currently in place and make it more strict, but it's also to scare providers,” Bougher said. “We only have so many providers in our state that are providing this care. We only have so many medical students that are wanting to stay in our state and provide this sort of care. Many Indiana medical students have to go out of state to receive training on this care.”

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However, providers are struggling to get lawmakers to listen to them. Bougher said the reproductive rights space has had to deal with a lot of misinformation — and not just on bills related to abortion.

Earlier this session, lawmakers discussed House Bill 1169. While the original bill would have established a bill that would give low-income Hoosiers access to a wide range of birth control options. But, an amendment to the bill narrowed the options available, excluding condoms and long-acting reversible contraceptives like IUDs. It also required local health departments to carry educational materials on natural family planning or the "rhythm method.”

Bougher said almost all of the people that spoke against the amendment were doctors. She said the OB-GYNs that testified explained the importance of including the most effective option for patients.

“Folks that oppose access to types of birth control are citing IUDs and long-acting reversible contraceptives as abortifacients, which is unequivocally false,” Bougher said.

Bougher said limiting the most popular and most effective option can be dangerous and lead to more unplanned pregnancies. She also said the removal of condoms, while including requirements on natural family planning, could create more issues.

“Not only does that not protect users against STIs, but fertility awareness methods or the rhythm method, as most people know, it is not one of the most effective forms of birth control,” Bougher said. “And doing that without condoms just increases your chance of having an unintended pregnancy.”

Bougher said sometimes lawmakers will have discussion in committee where it’s clear they don’t understand the science or medicine behind the issue.

“Sometimes it's like they're hearing it for the first time, which is obviously devastating considering they're the ones that are pushing these sorts of bills forward,” Bougher said. “And they have no idea what those consequences are, what the true facts are about this sort of health care — which is what it is.”

HB 1169 also did not advance.
 

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While bills die during the legislative session, lawmakers can add their language to other measures as amendments. Bougher said it’s likely that lawmakers didn’t have committee hearings on the legislation because it’s a budget session and they were focused on other issues.

“These could resurface next session — when it's not a budget year,” Bougher said. “But I also think that members of the majority know that this is not popular legislation and that Hoosiers absolutely do not want a more strict abortion ban.”

Bougher said Indiana is putting people in a position where they will have more children. But, she said the legislature is also failing to pass legislation to support children and families in the long run.

“One thing that we heard while the special session was taking place when they banned abortion in our state, was that they were going to look at these things,” Bougher said. “They're going to look at maternal health. They're going to look at access to child care and education and such. And that has not come to fruition at all.”

There were also a number of bills that address issues related to maternal health filed this year. But Bougher said lawmakers aren’t hearing or pursuing them. She said it is a disservice to not look at the “full picture to actually provide solutions” that work for Hoosiers.

“Why are we losing OBGYNs in our state? Why are labor delivery boards closing? Why is the state not prioritized, ensuring that Hoosiers have care and that we don't have these obstetric care deserts that our state is riddled with right now?” Bougher said. “It is such a disservice to, to Hoosiers, and pregnant Hoosiers, and folks that truly want to have families in this state.”

Bougher said further restriction would add more strain and create a situation where people have to be prepared for how they will get any care they might need, because of how the abortion ban has affected care.

“Now, folks are worried about what their escape plan is if they have some sort of medical crisis with their pregnancy, and they have to leave the state to receive that care,” Bougher said.

Bougher said during the budget session lawmakers should be considering how to construct a state budget that supports Hoosier families.
 

Abigail is our health reporter. Contact them at aruhman@wboi.org.