An Indiana judge blocked enforcement of the state’s new abortion ban Thursday morning, siding with pro-choice advocates who argued that the right to seek an abortion is enshrined in the state’s constitution, the Associated Press reports.
Indiana’s law, which went into effect exactly one week ago, was passed the Republican state legislature passed the law August 5th and Republican Governor Eric Holcomb signed it into law, becoming the first state to enact new legislation banning abortion since the conservative-packed Supreme Court reversed the Constitutional protections enshrined in the nearly 50-year-old Roe decision.
The GOP Indiana law wasn’t an outright ban on abortion, but it prohibited most abortions after the 10th week of gestation, before many pregnancies are confirmed. After the 10th week, a patient would have needed to obtain a declaration from a doctor that the pregnancy would result in the death of the patient or that the fetus had a severe lethal abnormality that would result in a stillbirth. Basically, if the birthed child could take one breath after traveling through the birth canal, Indiana Republicans required the patient to carry the pregnancy, no matter the likely death and suffering of the newborn baby.
The Indiana law also banned performing abortions outside hospitals or clinics operated by licensed hospitals, banning independent clinics like Planned Parenthood. This continues a GOP effort to cancel the existence of independent reproductive health clinics that focus on providing care to needy communities, making abortion services only available to patients that have money or insurance that would cover an abortion.