The bill went to the state’s Republican governor, Eric Holcomb, who signed it into law Friday night. Indiana was one of the first Republican-led state legislatures to discuss tougher abortion laws after the Supreme Court’s June ruling struck down constitutional protections. It is the first state to pass a ban through both chambers. The Indiana Senate approved the near-total ban 28-19, hours after House members moved ahead 62-38. It includes limited exceptions, including in cases of rape and incest, as well as to protect the life and physical health of the mother. Exceptions for rape and incest are limited to 10 weeks after fertilization, meaning victims could not get an abortion in Indiana after that. Victims would not be required to sign a notarized affidavit attesting to an assault. Outside the House chamber, abortion rights activists often chanted about the lawmakers’ comments, holding signs such as “Roe Roe Your Vote” and “Build this wall” between church and state. Some Democrats wore blazers over pink “Bans Off Our Bodies” T-shirts. Indiana lawmakers heard testimony over the past two weeks in which residents on all sides of the issue rarely, if ever, supported the legislation. Abortion rights advocates said the bill went too far, while anti-abortion activists said it didn’t go far enough. In arguing against the bill, Rep. Ann Vermilion blasted her fellow Republicans for calling women who have abortions “murderers.” “I think the Lord’s promise is for grace and goodness,” he said. “He wouldn’t jump to condemn these women.” The House rejected, largely along party lines, a Democratic proposal to put a non-binding question on the statewide November ballot: “Shall abortion remain legal in Indiana?” Indiana House Speaker Todd Houston said if residents were unhappy, they could vote for new lawmakers. Kansas voters already overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would have allowed the state’s Republican-controlled legislature to crack down on abortion in the first test of voter sentiment on the issue since Roe was ousted. Indiana’s proposed ban also came after a political firestorm over a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled to the state from neighboring Ohio to terminate her pregnancy. The case gained attention when an Indianapolis doctor said the child came to Indiana because of Ohio’s “fetal heartbeat” ban. Democratic Rep. Maureen Bauer spoke tearfully before Friday’s vote about the people in her South Bend district who oppose the bill — the husbands who stand behind their wives, the fathers who stand up for their daughters — as well as the women ” which require us to be considered equal’. . Bauer’s comments were followed by loud cheers from protesters in the aisle and subdued applause from his fellow Democrats. “You might not have thought these women would show up,” Bauer said. “Maybe you thought we wouldn’t care.” West Virginia lawmakers on July 29 missed a chance to become the first state with a unified ban after the House refused to agree to Senate amendments that would have lifted criminal penalties for doctors who performed illegal abortions. Instead, the delegates asked a conference committee to look at the details between the bills.
