The AP agency wrote that under the new rules, which will come into force on September 15, abortions will be completely banned except when the fetus suffers from defects considered fatal. A woman will be able to terminate her pregnancy if her health is seriously threatened. Exceptions also apply to minor victims of rape or incest, but only up to the tenth week of pregnancy.
Under the current law, women can have an abortion up to 22 weeks after their last period, with certain restrictions.
Indiana’s abortion policy came into focus in late June when a 10-year-old girl who became pregnant as a result of rape arrived in the state from neighboring Ohio. In her home state, she could not undergo the procedure, because abortions are prohibited there after the sixth week of pregnancy, there are no exceptions for victims of rape or incest. The girl exceeded the six-week mark by just three days.
Opponents of the abortion ban protested outside the Indiana Capitol on Friday, yelling at lawmakers to “shame on you.” “We will not stop fighting until everyone has access to abortion care free of political interference,” said the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) Native American chapter.
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The Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion
The constitutional right to abortion across the United States was guaranteed by a 1973 Supreme Court precedent known as Roe v. Wade, which established a federal right to terminate a pregnancy up to about its 24th week. Five conservative members of the nine-judge court put abortion regulation back in the hands of the US states in June.
Voters in Kansas this week in a referendum they rejected the proposal to change the constitution, which would allow the majority-Republican lawmakers to limit or completely abolish the right to abortion. It was the first referendum on abortion in the US since the Supreme Court nullified the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.
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