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The Court of Appeals of Indiana has denied the state’s motion to hurry up and reinstate the new abortion law that was overturned last week in the Monroe Circuit Court.
In an order issued Tuesday, the appellate court denied the state’s motion to expedite a response to its emergency motion to stay the lower court’s ruling. The two-page order rejected Indiana’s attempt to accelerate the judicial process.
But still, the Court of Appeals indicated it is moving quickly on the state’s request to overturn the lower court’s ruling by giving the opposing parties an Oct. 3 deadline to respond.
The scurry at the appellate court began when the Monroe Circuit Court granted a preliminary injunction against Senate Enrolled Act 1 on Sept. 22. Special Judge Kelsey Hanlon found the near-total abortion ban violated the liberty rights guaranteed in the Indiana Constitution.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office immediately sought an emergency transfer to the Indiana Supreme Court. Also, the attorney general filed an emergency motion to stay the preliminary injunction with the Court of Appeals.
However, the Court of Appeals did not accept the emergency motion. It issued an order Sept. 23 noting the motion ran afoul of Indiana Appellate Rules 39(C)(1) and 39(D)(3) because it did not contain either a copy of the trial court’s order or a proposed order. The state was ordered to file a corrected emergency motion to stay, and the Oct. 3 deadline was set.
The state refiled its corrected motion to stay on Sept. 23 and its motion to expedite on Sept. 26.
In its motion to expedite, the attorney general claimed the case involves “time-sensitive issues of great public importance.” Indiana’s top lawyer asserted, “… the State suffers new irreparable harm each day that the injunction stands because abortion clinics, now free operate outside (SEA) 1’s restrictions, are taking the lives of the unborn.”
The state then requested the Court of Appeals to establish a schedule that would have required the opposing parties to file three responses before the end of this week.
Although Indiana lost its attempt to speed up the process, the state’s motion to block the trial court’s ruling is still pending before the Court of Appeals.
The state’s motion for stay faulted the Monroe Circuit Court for ignoring “Indiana constitutional text, history and precedent” to find a “protected … right to abortion.” Also, the motion claimed the trial court harmed the “integrity of the democratic process” by intruding on the Legislature’s duty to strike the balance between “the rights of the unborn child” and the “rights of the mother.”
In addition, the state’s motion cited Cheaney v. State, 285 N.E.2d 265 (Ind. 1972), and argued Indiana has a valid interest in restricting abortion.
“Simply put, the State’s compelling interest in preserving the lives of unborn children outweighs any lesser impacts of pregnancy where a woman’s life and health are not at stake,” the motion stated. “This is especially true considering that both public and private resources are available to pregnancy women to address various impact of pregnancy.”
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