INDIANAPOLIS – Today the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a federal district court’s ruling striking down HEA 1337, which would have banned women from obtaining abortions based on their reason for seeking one.
Seventh Circuit Judge William J. Bauer wrote that these “provisions clearly violate this well-established Supreme Court precedent, and are therefore, unconstitutional.”
ACLU of Indiana Executive Director Jane Henegar made this statement: “In striking down this extreme abortion ban, the Court once again affirmed a woman’s fundamental right to make her own personal medical decisions. This ruling is a victory for women and another repudiation of attempts by Indiana politicians to restrict – and even ban – access to abortion care. Deeply personal decisions about abortion should be made by women in consultation with their doctors—not by politicians or government bureaucrats.”
ACLU of Indiana Legal Director Ken Falk said: “We are happy that the Court recognized this law for what it was—a clear attempt by Indiana to ignore settled precedent from the Supreme Court and we are happy that the Court reaffirmed the fundamentally important rights for women here.”
House Enrolled Act 1337, signed into law by former Governor Mike Pence on March 24, 2016, would have imposed unprecedented restrictions on abortion. HEA 1337 barred a woman from getting an abortion based on her reason. Specifically, it would have prohibited abortions if the sole reason for the abortion is the fetus’s race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex or diagnosis of a statutorily-defined “disability” or “potential diagnosis” of a “disability.”
The case, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, et al., v. Commissioner, Indiana State Department of Health, Prosecutors of Marion, Lake, Monroe, and Tippecanoe Counties; Individual Members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana, Case No. 1:16-cv-00763-TWP-DML, was filed on Thurs. April 7, 2016 in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. Attorneys on the case include Kenneth J. Falk, Gavin M. Rose and Jan P. Mensz, American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana; Jennifer Sandman, Planned Parenthood Federation of America; and Andrew Beck, American Civil Liberties Union.
