Federal Judge Upholds Several Indiana Abortion Restrictions
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A federal judge has upheld several Indiana laws restricting abortion that were challenged by a group that has fought a legal battle to open an abortion clinic in South Bend.
The ruling, however, allowed Texas-based Whole Woman's Health Alliance to continue its lawsuit against other Indiana abortion restrictions. The group sued the state last year after the state health department denied its request for a license to operate the clinic performing medication-induced abortions in South Bend.
U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker issued the ruling Friday, upholding several state law provisions, including the requirement that all abortion clinics obtain a state license; that doctors performing abortions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital; that doctors must perform an ultrasound on the pregnant woman at least 18 hours before an abortion procedure, and requirements of parental consent for abortions involving those younger than 18.
Barker allowed court action to continue on the group's lawsuit against other provisions. Those include laws allowing second-trimester abortions only at hospitals and surgery centers, a requirement that doctors tell patients that fetuses can feel pain and another that women must be told that human physical life begins at conception.
Barker last year allowed the group to open the South Bend clinic without a state-required license as the lawsuit proceeded.
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