Comment Indiana’s sweeping new abortion ban had an immediate political and economic impact Saturday, as some of the state’s largest employers opposed the restrictions, Democratic leaders plotted ways to amend or repeal the law and abortion rights activists planned to organize alternatives sites for women seeking procedures. The Indiana law, which the Republican-controlled state legislature passed late Friday night and Gov. Eric Holcomb (R) signed moments later, was the first statewide ban passed since the Supreme Court struck down the USA. Roe v. Wade in June and was celebrated as a major victory by abortion foes. On August 5th, Indiana lawmakers voted in favor of a near-total abortion ban. The bill was signed by Gov. Eric Holcomb (R). (Video: The Washington Post) It also came just three days after voters in traditionally conservative Kansas surprised the political world taking a very different tack, rejecting a ballot measure that would have stripped protections for abortion rights from that state’s constitution. The Indiana vote capped weeks of intense debate in Indianapolis, where activists protested at the state Capitol and waged intense lobbying campaigns as Republican lawmakers debated how far the law should go to restrict abortion. Some abortion foes hailed the law’s passage as a road map for conservatives in other states pushing for similar bans in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Roewhich had guaranteed for the last 50 years the right to abortion care. Indiana’s ban, which takes effect Sept. 15, allows abortion only in cases of rape, incest, a fatal fetal abnormality, or when the procedure is necessary to prevent serious health risks or death. Indiana joins nine other states that have banned abortion from conception. The new law represents a victory for anti-abortion forces, which have been working for decades to stop the procedure. But the passage came after disagreements among some abortion foes, some of whom believed the bill did not go far enough to stop the procedure. After the legislation was signed into law, Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical giant and one of the state’s largest employers, warned that such laws would hurt its hiring efforts and said the company would look elsewhere for its expansion plans. “We are concerned that this law will hinder Lilly’s – and Indiana’s – ability to attract diverse scientific and business talent from around the world,” the company said in a statement issued Saturday. “Given this new law, we will be forced to plan for more employment growth outside of our state.” See where abortion laws have changed Salesforce, the tech giant with 2,300 employees in Indiana, had previously offered to relocate employees to states with abortion restrictions, though it did not respond Saturday to a request for comment on the Indiana law. The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce also warned that the ban was passed too quickly and without consideration of how it would affect the state’s tourism industry. “Such a swift legislative process — the rush to advance state policy on broad, complex issues — is, at best, detrimental to Hoosiers and at worst reckless,” the chamber said in a statement, asking: “Will his district continue Indy attracting tourism and convention investment?’ Indiana lost 12 conferences and an estimated $60 million in business after the religious freedom law was passed in 2015, according to a local tourism industry estimate. Indiana becomes first state to ban abortion by legislature after Supreme Court overturns in June Roe v. Wade. Other states enacted “trigger laws” that went into effect upon his fall Roe. Indiana may just be the beginning. Abortion rights advocates estimate that abortion could be severely restricted or banned in half of the 50 states. An official with Indiana Right to Life, an Indiana anti-abortion group, said the new law would end 95 percent of abortions in Indiana and close all abortion clinics in Indiana.” Sept. 15, the law’s effective date, unless the abortion activists go to court and get an injunction first. Indiana has been considering abortion restrictions for years, though it remained a state where many in the region traveled for abortion care. Now, with several neighboring states — including Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia — also pushing for abortion bans, patients may have to travel hundreds of miles in some cases for care, said Elizabeth Nash, a policy expert at the Institute. Guttmacher, who supports abortion. rights. “Patients in Ohio will not be able to go to Indiana for access. They should get to, maybe, Illinois or Michigan,” he said. The passage of the Indiana measure came just weeks after national attention focused on a 10-year-old girl who was raped in Ohio, where abortion is prohibited after six weeks, and traveled to Indiana to terminate the pregnancy. Caitlin Bernard, the doctor who performed that abortion in Indianapolis, tweeted Saturday that she was “devastated” by the lawmaker’s action. “How many girls and women will be hurt before they understand that this needs to be reversed? I will continue to fight for them with every fiber of my being,” he wrote. Doctors are reluctant to work in anti-abortion states Indiana’s measure drew swift condemnation from national Democrats, who sought to paint Republicans as pro-abortion extremists — citing a vote in Kansas earlier this week where even rural, conservative parts of the state rejected the change to the constitutional right. of the state for abortion. The law is “another radical step by Republican lawmakers to take away women’s reproductive rights and freedom,” White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre said in a statement. Democrats hope, however, that they can use what happened in Indiana to brand the entire Republican Party as anti-abortion. “This has nothing to do with being ‘pro-life,’” tweeted California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). “It’s about power and control.” In Washington, Republican leaders have been largely silent on the push by Republican-led states to ban abortions. Polls consistently show that near-total abortion bans like the one in Indiana are unpopular with the general public. So when Indiana Republicans ban abortion for an entire state, “they’re really speaking for all Republicans,” said Martha McKenna, a Democratic political strategist, “and so I hope it’s a good issue for Democrats this year.” November”. Another political strategist, Jonathan Levy, who worked for the Kansans For Constitutional Freedom campaign, which opposes restricting abortion rights, said the Kansas vote showed that extreme anti-abortion positions “will be rejected by Americans in the entire political spectrum. The American people want lawmakers to focus on how to keep food on the table, keep the economy alive. They think the legislature’s priorities are out of whack,” he said. Along with the near-total abortion ban, Indiana Republicans also passed legislation they said was intended to support pregnant women and mothers, but critics pointed out that much of the money went to support pregnancy crisis centers run by anti-abortion groups. The bill’s passage has left health care providers and abortion counseling services scrambling to understand the full impact of the legislation. Indiana University Health, a major health care provider in the state, issued a statement saying it is trying to understand what the ban means for its doctors and patients. “We will need the next few weeks to fully understand the terms of the new law and how to incorporate the changes into our medical practice to protect our providers and care for people seeking reproductive health,” the health provider said in a statement. Meanwhile, activists began discussing plans to raise funds and provide transportation those seeking abortion access after the ban went into effect, said Carol McCord, a former employee at Planned Parenthood. “Since this will soon be illegal in Indiana, we are looking for ways to help women travel to get the services they need,” she said. Indiana’s law was already considered restrictive compared to other states, so about 35 percent of women seeking abortions already traveled out of state, said Jessica Martbank, who serves as state program manager for the All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center in Bloomington. Democratic state lawmakers began strategizing Saturday on how to respond, including considering repeal measures and organizing voters to elect lawmakers who favor abortion rights. “This is a dark time for Indiana,” said state Sen. Shelli Yoder, assistant chairwoman of the House Democratic Caucus. “The plan going forward is to make sure we go out in November and vote for the people who supported something that only a small minority of Hoosiers wanted.” Immediately, Yoder said in an interview that she and like-minded state lawmakers are considering actions that could undo the impact of the new law, noting that the Legislature has not formally adjourned. “We can go back and fix it,” he said, adding that lawmakers are in the early stages of figuring out how to do that. Katie Blair, the American Civil Liberties Union’s Indiana director of advocacy and public policy, said Saturday that her organization would consider legal action. “You can be assured that our legal team will work with partners to evaluate every legal avenue available to defend abortion access here in Indiana,” Blair said in a statement. In signing the legislation, Holcomb applauded the work of lawmakers he had called into special session this summer to find a way to limit abortion, acknowledging disagreements among those who oppose abortion. “These actions followed lengthy hearings filled with sobering and personal testimony from citizens and elected representatives about this emotional…
