NewsUSAIndiana becomes the first state to ban abortion following US Supreme Court ruling

Indiana becomes the first state to ban abortion following US Supreme Court ruling

Indiana on Friday became the first of 50 US states to pass a law restricting access to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 ruling, known as Roe vs. Wadewhich protected that right at the federal level.

The bill has been signed by the state governor, Eric Holcomb, and will take effect on September 15. The initiative was rejected en bloc by the Democrats of the two chambers of the state parliament, but it could be approved because the Republicans have a majority in Indiana, a state where 72% of the population is Christian, according to data from the Pew Center. A total of 28 senators have supported the measure, compared to 19 who have spoken out against it. Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives, 62 members have voted in favor and 38 have rejected it. “These actions followed long days of hearings filled with personal and sobering testimony from citizens and elected representatives on this emotional and complex issue. Ultimately, those voices shaped the final content of the legislation and its carefully negotiated exceptions to address some of the unthinkable circumstances that a woman or unborn child could face,” Holcomb said in a statement.

Republicans in Indiana had been working on this bill for weeks, but they were divided: a majority wanted to completely ban abortion while a minority believed that some exceptions should be established in the case of rape or incest. Finally, exceptions were included for rape, incest and also in case the fetus has abnormalities that make its survival impossible or the life of the mother is in danger. Until now, abortion was legal in Indiana up to 22 weeks gestation.

This new legislation marks that abortions can only be performed in hospitals, therefore, causing abortion clinics to lose their license, as reported by the media abcnews.

At the end of June, the Supreme Court, with a conservative majority, reversed Roe vs. Wade thereby ending federal protection for abortion and giving states permission to set their own rules. Indiana’s decision comes after voters in Kansas this week voted overwhelmingly in a referendum in favor of keeping abortion rights intact as currently regulated in the State Constitution, in a resounding defeat for voters. conservatives. Nine other states in the US have laws that almost totally ban abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, dedicated to reproductive rights research.

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