INDIANAPOLIS (AP)
-- The Indiana Legislature on Wednesday sent a bill to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s
desk that would require medical providers who treat women for complications
arising from abortions to report detailed patient information to the state.
Though the bill is
not as expansive as Indiana abortion laws passed in recent years -- some of
which have been thrown out in court -- debate has unfolded along familiar
lines.
Supporters said
it’s necessary to make sure abortions are performed safely.
Opponents,
meanwhile, argued it would allow big-government meddling in personal
affairs, while miring medical providers -- and not just abortion clinics --
in bureaucratic red tape. They also note abortions have a low complication
rate and question why the same reporting requirements aren’t mandated for
other medical procedures.
"It’s couched (like
it’s) about public safety, when all it is is a way of shaming and
stigmatizing women,” said Democratic Indianapolis Sen. Jean Breaux.
The group Indiana
Right to Life, on the other hand, tweeted that they looked forward to the
governor “signing this historic legislation.”
A Holcomb
spokeswoman would not say whether the Republican governor will sign it,
though last year he signed an abortion restrictions bill dealing with
parental notification that has since been blocked from taking effect while
it is challenged in court.
“This bill was not
a part of the governor’s legislative agenda this session. As with all bills
that arrive at his desk, the governor will review this one carefully before
deciding whether or not to sign,” said spokeswoman Stephanie Wilson.
Bills mandating the
reporting of abortion complications are hardly new. At least 20 states have
such laws on the books, though the amount of detail that must be reported
varies, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which opposes abortion
restrictions.
But the group said
there has been increased interest in such laws following a 2016 U.S. Supreme
Court ruling which struck down Texas restrictions that had contributed to
the shuttering of more than half of the state’s abortion clinics.
At the time, the
high court found there was insufficient data to justify the restrictions,
which required doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at
nearby hospitals and forced clinics to meet hospital-like standards.
The measure passed
Wednesday by the Indiana Legislature would require doctors, hospitals and
abortion clinics to report to the State Department of Health each instance
in which a patient suffers from any in a wide range of medical
complications.
That includes
serious medical conditions -- like kidney failure, cardiac arrest,
hemorrhaging and blood clots -- as well as depression, anxiety and sleep
disorders.
It also mandates
that a woman suffering from an abortion complication must have additional
personal information reported to the state. Some of that is already
collected, but under the bill it would be required by law to report details
such as woman’s age, race, how many children she has, if any of their
children have died and how many abortions they’ve had in the past.
Another provision
requires any abortion clinic be inspected at least once a year, with further
inspections allowed if a complaint is made. Clinics must also report if any
employee has been convicted of a felony, or if any owner or staff member
worked at another abortion clinic closed “as a result of administrative or
legal action.”
The number of
abortions performed in Indiana has declined significantly over the past
decade, which anti-abortion advocates attribute to strict laws approved amid
a Republican surge to power.
In more recent
years, however, newer and even stricter abortion laws approved by lawmakers
were found unconstitutional by the courts. That has resulted in the state
paying back more than $290,000 in legal fees to the American Civil Liberties
Union, which challenged the laws, state records show.