The abortion ban will take effect as soon as August 1.
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INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state’s near-total abortion ban can take effect.
SEA 1 was the first abortion ban to pass after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in September 2022.
The passage of the abortion ban was met by opposition by the ACLU of Indiana, which claims the law violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
The law briefly went into effect on September 15, 2022, before being blocked on September 22, 2022, while the case continued.
Following the Indiana Supreme Court’s ruling, SEA 1 outlaws abortion almost entirely and threatens providers with criminal penalties. The ban contains limited exceptions such as serious risk to health or life of a pregnant person; diagnosis of a “lethal fetal anomaly,”; and rape or incest before 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Any abortions allowed under the law’s exceptions are required to be provided at a hospital.
Abortions will be banned in Indiana with limited exceptions as soon as August 1.