Indiana House receives abortion bill, sets schedule

Senate Bill 1 — which exposed divides over abortion in the Republican caucus — has arrived in the Indiana House, where it has already picked up three sponsors and leadership has set a schedule that includes one day for the committee hearing.

The measure was sent to the House after senators met Saturday in a rare weekend session for the third reading. After almost four hours of debate, SB 1 passed on a 26-20 vote with 10 Republicans joining the Democrats in voting against the bill.

Sen. Sue Glick, R-LaGrange, urged her colleagues to move the bill forward. Noting the opposition to legislation from pro-abortion as well as anti-abortion advocates, she made a pragmatic argument to her Republican colleagues.

“If we do nothing, if we vote this bill down, the present law in Indiana allows abortions without exception for 20 weeks,” Glick said. “I ask you to protect those lives.”

House Speaker Todd Huston, R-Fishers, released the legislative schedule for the bill on Monday.

After the House convenes on Monday,  the Courts and Criminal Code Committee will hold a hearing on SB 1  at 9 a.m. Tuesday. No session is scheduled for Wednesday but lawmakers will be in session at 9 a.m. both Thursday and Friday.

Rep. Wendy McNamara, R-Evansville, is listed as a sponsor of SB 1. Rep. Peggy Mayfield, R-Martinsville, and Joanna King, R-Middlebury, have been listed as co-sponsors.

Sen. Gary Byrne, R-Byrneville, said he had originally  planned to vote against the measure because it does not support his beliefs that life begins at conception and thou shalt not kill. But gesturing toward the hallway where pro-abortion advocates were chanting and waving signs, he said he was convinced to change his vote.

“I want to send this over to the House and hopefully they will improve it and get it closer to life begins at conception deal for us,” Byrne said.

Conversely, Sen. Tim Lanane, D-Anderson, did not see any chance SB 1 would be made more palatable to the opponents. He criticized the rushed process to produce an abortion bill and called upon the Senate to reject the measure.

“We should scrap this bill,” Lanane said. “This bill is not ready to go anywhere and it’s not going to get better on the other side of the building, I’m convicted of that.”

Changes made

The bill leaving the Senate keeps the language that pregnancy begins when the fetus implants on the uterine wall and that abortion is permitted only in the cases of rape, incest and “substantial permanent impairment” to the life of the mother.

As the measure worked through the Senate, provisions were added which limited the rape and incest exception to eight weeks post-fertilization for females who are 16 and older. For girls 15 and under, they would have 12 weeks post-fertilization to terminate their pregnancy. In addition, those having abortions would have to provide the physician with a signed and notarized affidavit under penalties of perjury that the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

The amended bill also made the performing of an abortion not covered by an exception a Level 5 felony. Only licensed physicians would be able to perform abortions and the procedure must take place in a hospital or ambulatory outpatient surgical center. Also, only a physician would be able to dispense an abortion-inducing drug and the female must be told that “some evidence suggests” the medication abortion can be reversed.

Both Sens. Jean Breaux, D-Indianapolis, and Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, spoke against SB 1, asserting the measure would harm women and children.

Breaux pointed to the potential that children of unwanted pregnancies would not experience maternal bonding and likely would be raised in households that did not have enough money to cover basic needs. Also, the children would suffer more delinquency and psychological problems.

“Senate Bill 1 is a flawed bill that strips a woman of her right to choose when and whether she wants to give birth or be a mother,” Breaux said. “It is a quagmire for physicians. And it is unprogressive and backwards thinking. It feels very much like an attack on womanhood.”

Becker noted most constituents object to the bill and she highlighted the public polling which shows what a “vast majority” of Hoosiers want and what they don’t want. She also pointed to the state’s infant mortality rate and number of maternal deaths and the high rate of sexual assaults on Hoosier women.

“So how are we doing protecting our constituents? Well, as we all know, we are failing,” Becker said. “This bill doesn’t make things better. It makes things worse. More women, children and families will suffer.”