WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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On March 24, 2016, then-Governor Mike Pence signed into law House Enrolled Act 1337. The law introduced additional stipulations on abortion procedures throughout the state, including a measure which required women seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound 18 hours before an abortion procedure.
Two years later, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, along with the Indiana Chapter of the ACLU have won a suit against the state. Planned Parenthood and the ACLU claimed the ultrasound procedure placed an undue burden on women seeking an abortion.
HEA 1337 also contained additional restrictions on abortion beyond the requirement of women seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound. PPINK CEO Christie Gillespie said those restrictions have also been found to be unconstitutional, after two years of legal wrangling.
Gillespie said PPINK faces challenges, not only by the Republican super-majority in the Statehouse, but also by local actors; Earlier in July, the reproductive health non-profit shut down their clinic in Fort Wayne, citing an allegedly hostile church-going community in the area harassing its physicians, nurses and patients.
