The law prohibiting almost all abortions in Indiana will go into effect on September 15.

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In a state with some of the highest maternal and newborn death rates in the nation, Republican lawmakers in Indiana voted on Friday to force thousands more women to give birth each year.

And the nearly complete abortion ban was swiftly signed into law by Governor Eric Holcomb.

After Roe was overturned, Holcomb said, “I made it very clear that I would be ready to support legislation that made advances in protecting life.” “In my opinion, SEA 1 (ss) succeeds in doing this.”

The bill’s sponsor in the House, Rep. Wendy McNamara (R-Evansville), claims it makes Indiana the nation’s most pro-life, or anti-abortion, state.
According to McNamara, it is compatible with our overarching objective to care for mother and child.

Only in circumstances of substantial risk to the pregnant person’s health or life, lethal fetal anomalies up to 20 weeks after fertilization, incidents of rape or incest, and only up to 10 weeks, would abortions be permitted.

The bill’s co-sponsor, Rep. Joanna King (R-Middlebury), expressed her belief that life begins at conception.
King declared, “I think life is a blessing. “This body has a responsibility to preserve life.”
The bill, according to Rep. Carolyn Jackson (D-Hammond), is not pro-life. She claimed that the issue involved the state punishing women due to their genetics.
And, according to Jackson, it is cruel, unjust, and simply nasty.
The measure is opposed by the House vote was 62 to 38 , which includes nine Republicans and every Democrat.

One of those Republicans is Rep. Cindy Ledbetter (R-Newburgh). She talked about her own young, unintended pregnancy. She said that she had no access to healthcare when she first arrived in Indiana due to her poverty. Ledbetter claimed that over time, the state has fallen short of helping to fund services that would have helped stop abortions.

Ledbetter declared, “I cannot, in good conscience, vote for this bill.

In addition, Rep. Ann Vermilion (R-Marion) abstained on the resolution. She herself as “pro-life and pro-choice,” and expressed concern that the ban would electrify voters and drive Republicans from power.

Vermilion added, “I think we have to stop referring to ourselves as ‘pro-life,’ if all it implies is that we have a priority list on life.

Rep. Maureen Bauer (D-South Bend) remarked in an emotional and occasionally tearful address that she sees individuals getting active in politics because of this issue “as if their future depended on it.”

Birth by force is not freedom, according to Bauer. “When half of our state lacks access to child care, Indiana will make women and girls give birth. Forced conception in the only wealthy country without paid family medical leave. forced childbirth in a country where Black mothers have greater rates of maternal and perinatal mortality. Forced conception in a society without universal health care or child care and with an average of one mass shooting per day.”

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On Friday, a few House Republicans abstained from voting because they believed the prohibition didn’t go far enough. Rep John Jacob is one of them (R-Indianapolis). He is a pro-life radical who thinks that all abortions should be prohibited, even if the pregnant woman would perish.

Jacob stated that “human existence begins at conception.” “The taking of an innocent person’s life is referred to as murder. Additionally, abortion invariably results in the death of an unborn child.”

Rep. Renee Pack (D-Indianapolis) expressed her outrage at Jacob’s comments without holding back.

“I am not a murderer, sir. Additionally, neither of my sisters are murderers “said Pack. “We support abortion. We fit that description. We think we are in control of our own body. We are what we are.”

A more stringent restriction was desired by more than half of the House Republican caucus. They approved an amendment on Thursday that would have eliminated the rape and incest provisions.

However, the majority of them ended up supporting the final law. Rep. Jeff Ellington, a Republican from Bloomfield, compared it to commanding 100 soldiers in battle. He claimed that rather than giving up on all 100, he decided to battle to preserve 93 of them.

Ellington stated, “I’m going to use this fundamental building block and come to a conclusion for the future.”
By a vote of 28 to 19, the Senate forwarded the bill to the governor.
The restriction, according to Sen. Liz Brown (R-Fort Wayne), is the result of years of legal wrangling.

Because we need to make it impossible to imagine ending the life of an unborn child, Brown added, we will always have more work to do.

Women shouldn’t have to request power over their own bodies, according to Sen. Shelli Yoder (D-Bloomington).
It lacks sympathy. It’s anti-life, “Added Yoder. “In favor of punishment. women who dare to live as freely as men are punished.

One of the most powerful anti-abortion groups in the state, Indiana Right to Life, had long opposed the proposal because it did not restrict abortion sufficiently. Additionally, IRTL President and CEO Mike Fichter indicated in a statement that the organization could not yet completely support the proposal.

We understand that the only way to move forward is to either accept the possibility of immediately ending the vast majority of abortions in Indiana or to maintain the status quo, according to Fichter.

Fichter praised the House’s amendments to the bill, especially the one that forbade abortion clinics from operating in the state.
Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates CEO Jennifer M. Allen referred to the proposal as a “outrageous” assault on maternal health in a statement.
Allen criticized the Indiana government for interfering in people’s personal decisions about when and whether to have children.
The ACLU of Indiana stated that it is considering “every legal option” to protect access to abortion.
Updates have been made to this story.
You may get in touch with reporter Brandon at or on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5 .

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