July 16, 2021

Be Our Guest / Mike Fichter

Indiana judge blocks new abortion pill reversal law

Mike FichterOn June 30, a state judge ruled in favor of abortion-rights extremists and against the will of the people of Indiana, whose duly elected representatives passed and signed into effect H.B. 1577, which provided that doctors tell women receiving chemical abortion drugs about abortion pill reversal.

We at Indiana Right to Life (IRTL) are disappointed that Judge James Patrick Hanlon would rule in favor of abortion-rights extremists and block this common-sense abortion pill reversal law from going into effect. This law provides women with potentially lifesaving information about abortion pill reversal, by which the naturally-occurring hormone progesterone is used to counter the effects of the abortion drug mifepristone.

The office of Todd Rokita, the Indiana Attorney General, said in a court filing: “Patients have the right to choose not to take the second pill and pursue alternative options to save their pregnancies. … Denying patients information regarding alternatives should they wish to continue their pregnancies harms women by depriving them of that choice.”

Prior to Judge Hanlon’s temporary restraining order, the new law was set to go into effect on July 1.

Chemical abortion has recently been on the rise in Indiana, which is why H.B. 1577 was such welcome news to IRTL.

According to the Indiana State Department of Health’s 2020 Terminated Pregnancy Report released on June 30, chemically induced abortions, for the first time, comprise the majority of abortions done in Indiana, accounting for 55% of all abortions done in the state. The report also reveals 119 more unborn children were killed by abortion in Indiana in 2020 as compared to 2019, an increase of 1.5%.

The 4,252 chemically induced abortions in 2020 represent a 25% increase compared to the 3,351 done in 2019.
 

(Mike Fichter is president and CEO of Indiana Right to Life.) †

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