MONROE COUNTY, Ind. — A special judge presiding in Monroe County has struck down a request by Planned Parenthood to expand exceptions for Indiana’s near-total abortion ban.
Owen County Judge Kelsey Hanlon, who was appointed as a special judge over the case, issued the ruling Wednesday, arguing the plaintiffs did not give sufficient evidence for when an abortion would be “necessary” outside of the exceptions outlined in Indiana law.
“The court is not tasked with determining the wisdom of SB 1,” Hanlon wrote in her ruling. “Rather, the court limits its analysis to whether SB 1 prevents patients from exercising a constitutional right to protect themselves against serious health risks by materially burdening access to abortions necessary to address that risk.”
Senate Bill 1, which was signed into law by Governor Eric Holcomb in August 2022, outlaws abortions with very few exceptions. After a multitude of legal challenges, the law went into effect in August 2023.
As part of the law, abortions are prohibited unless doctors determine it is “necessary to prevent any serious health risk to the pregnant woman or to save the pregnant woman’s life.”
Abortions are permitted if a doctor determines the fetus has a “lethal fetal anomaly,” but only up to 20 weeks post-fertilization.
In the case of a pregnancy from the result of rape or incest, an abortion can be performed only during the first 10 weeks of post-fertilization.
