This May 2017 case challenges portions of Senate Enrolled Act No. 404 that amends Indiana law to: 1) provide that in a bypass proceeding where a minor can seek judicial permission to obtain an abortion without parental consent, the court can order that notice be provided to the parent; 2) requires physicians to execute an affidavit where a parent consents to a minor’s abortion after receiving a photo id and other unspecified evidence that “a reasonable person under similar circumstances would rely on the information provided . . . as sufficient evidence of [the] identity and relationship” between the minor and parent, and 3) prohibit persons from aiding or assisting an unemancipated minor from seeking an abortion from obtaining one without satisfying the consent or bypass requirements under Indiana law. This last provision would prohibit Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc. (PPINK) from advising minors that they could obtain abortions out of state.
CASE TIMELINE
- Judge Barker issued a preliminary injunction against this law before its effective date in 2017.
- The State appealed and the 7th Circuit affirmed and denied rehearing en banc.
- The State sought cert in the Supreme Court, and SCOTUS sent the case back to the 7th Circuit to consider in light of June Medical Services.
- As of March 12, 2021, the 7th Circuit has again affirmed the original decision, that these burdens to abortion access are unconstitutional. It is important for Hoosiers to know that these unconstitutional requirements will not go into effect in Indiana.
