Indiana Attorney General Won't Appeal Injunction Against Dismemberment Abortion Ban

Attorney General Curtis Hill claims there is a better legal option.

(Indianapolis, Ind.) - The state of Indiana is not going to fight a judge's order that blocks the state's new abortion law against dismemberment abortions. 

A federal district court on June 28 issued a preliminary injunction putting enforcement of the law on-hold. The law was set to take effect July 1.

The state could have appealed the district court’s ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

After initially pledging to appeal, Attorney General Curtis Hill on Wednesday said he will instead focus his office’s resources on the larger issue proceeding to summary judgment or trial: the inherent constitutionality of the ban itself.

“I remain committed to protecting the value and dignity of fetal life by defending Indiana’s law banning this brutal and inhumane procedure,” Attorney General Hill said. “At this juncture, I believe our best path forward in this case is to proceed to summary judgment as we continue to gather evidence and formulate strategy.” 

Hill’s office cited the U.S. Supreme Court recently declining to hear a case involving an Alabama ban on dismemberment abortions held to be unconstitutional by a federal appellate court.

Five other states, including Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana and Ohio, have ongoing cases concerning dismemberment abortion bans.

The law, House Enrolled Act 1211, was passed earlier this year by the Indiana General Assembly, which is made up of Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate.

The lawsuit leading to the injunction against HEA 1211 was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

“It is no surprise that this abortion ban was blocked,” said Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, at the time of the district court’s injunction being ordered. “Similar or virtually identical laws have been ruled unconstitutional across the country. HEA 1211 would undoubtedly interfere with a woman’s access to abortion. This law is clearly unconstitutional.”

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