Indiana’s near-total abortion ban set to take effect as state Supreme Court denies rehearing

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana’s near-total abortion ban is set to take effect within days after the Indiana Supreme Court on Monday denied a rehearing in the case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

The denial of the rehearing means the ban will take effect once a June 30 ruling upholding the ban is certified, a procedural step expected to take just days, court spokesperson Kathryn Dolan said in an email to news media.

The state’s highest court ruled June 30 that the abortion ban doesn’t violate the Indiana constitution. That removed a major hurdle to enforcing the ban Republicans approved last summer ahead of a wave of restrictions by conservative states in response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

In a 4-1 decision Monday, the Supreme Court reaffirmed its order that Planned Parenthood and other health care providers “cannot show a reasonable likelihood of success” with their challenge to the abortion restrictions.

The ACLU of Indiana’s executive director, Jane Henegar, released a statement saying Monday was “a dark day in Indiana’s history.”

“We have seen the horrifying impact of bans like this across the country, and the narrow exceptions included in this extreme ban will undoubtedly put Hoosiers’ lives at risk. ... Every person should have the fundamental freedom to control their own body and politicians’ personal opinions should play no part in this personal decision,” Henegar’s statement said.

Attorney General Todd Rokita also released a statement, saying, “This is great news for Hoosier life and liberty. We defeated the pro-death advocates who try to interject their views in a state that clearly voted for life.”

Indiana’s Republican-backed ban ends most abortions in the state, even in the earliest stages of a pregnancy. Indiana became the first state to enact tighter abortion restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court ended nearly a half-century of federal abortion protections by overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

Indiana’s six abortion clinics stopped providing abortions late last month ahead of the ban officially taking effect.