CV NEWS FEED // An Indiana judge is set to rule in the coming months on whether to revise the state’s near-total protection of unborn babies to expand its exceptions for women who are seeking the procedure on account of “health risks.”
Owen County Special Judge Kelsey Blake Hanlon heard the closing arguments in favor of expanding abortion access in health-related circumstances on May 31, in a case brought forth by Planned Parenthood against Indiana’s medical licensing board.
State law, as upheld by the Indiana Supreme Court in June 2023, allows for abortion in rare circumstances, such as when the health or life of the mother is at risk, for up to 20 weeks. Abortions are only to take place in a hospital.
As ABC News reported late last month, Planned Parenthood is seeking to do away with the hospital requirement and expand access to “account for conditions that may threaten health later in a pregnancy, after giving birth or for conditions that may exacerbate other health problems.”
According to another local report, the plaintiffs declared in closing arguments for the three-day bench trial that limiting abortion access to situations where it is necessary to prevent death is “a serious health risk.”
The plaintiffs also argued in favor of allowing women to obtain abortions for psychological reasons. As ABC noted in its report, “the current statute explicitly rules out the threat of self harm or suicide as ‘a serious health risk.’”
The Attorney General’s Office also called out its final witness, OB-GYN Dr. Monique Wibbenhorst, who stated in her testimony that she was opposed to the plaintiff’s assertions that abortion should be considered health care during closing arguments.
“Embryos and fetuses are human beings,” she said. “No procedure that kills human beings is health care.”
Hanlon is expected to issue a ruling in the coming months. She is a registered Republican and was elected to her judicial post.
