INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� An Indiana judge on Thursday blocked the state鈥檚 abortion ban from being enforced, putting the new law on hold as .
Owen County Judge Kelsey Hanlon issued a preliminary injunction against the ban that The injunction was sought by abortion clinic operators who argued in a lawsuit that the state constitution protects access to the medical procedure.
The ban was on Aug. 5 and signed by GOP Gov. Eric Holcomb. That made Indiana the first state to enact tighter abortion restrictions since the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated federal abortion protections by in June.
The judge wrote 鈥渢here is reasonable likelihood that this significant restriction of personal autonomy offends the liberty guarantees of the Indiana Constitution鈥� and that the clinics will prevail in the lawsuit. The order prevents the state from enforcing the ban pending a trial on the merits of the lawsuit.
Republican state Attorney General Todd Rokita said in a statement: 鈥淲e plan to appeal and continue to make the case for life in Indiana.鈥�
Indiana鈥檚 ban followed the who traveled to the state from neighboring Ohio to end her pregnancy. The case gained wide attention when an Indianapolis doctor said the child came to Indiana because of Ohio鈥檚 鈥渇etal heartbeat鈥� ban.
An Ohio judge has , indicating he will allow abortions to continue up to 20 weeks鈥� gestation until after a court hearing scheduled for Oct. 7.
With Indiana now on hold, bans on abortion at any point in pregnancy are in place in 12 Republican-led states. In another state, Wisconsin, clinics have stopped providing abortions amid litigation over whether an 1849 ban is in effect. Georgia bans abortions once fetal cardiac activity can be detected and Florida and Utah have bans that kick in after 15 and 18 weeks gestation, respectively.
The Indiana ban, which includes limited exceptions, replaced state laws that generally prohibited abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy and tightly restricted them after the 13th week.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana, which is representing the abortion clinics, filed the lawsuit Aug. 31 and argued the ban would 鈥減rohibit the overwhelming majority of abortions in Indiana and, as such, will have a devastating and irreparable impact on the plaintiffs and, more importantly, their patients and clients.鈥�
Ken Falk, the ACLU of Indiana鈥檚 legal director, pointed to the state constitution鈥檚 declaration of rights including 鈥渓ife, liberty and the pursuit of happiness鈥� in that it included a right to privacy and to make decisions on whether to have children.
The state attorney general鈥檚 office said the court should uphold the ban, calling arguments against it based on a 鈥渘ovel, unwritten, historically unsupported right to abortion鈥� in the state constitution.
鈥淭he constitutional text nowhere mentions abortion, and Indiana has prohibited or heavily regulated abortion by statute since 1835 鈥� before, during, and after the time when the 1851 Indiana Constitution was drafted, debated, and ratified,鈥� the office said in a court filing.
The question of whether the Indiana Constitution protects abortion rights is undecided.
A state appeals court decision in 2004 said privacy was a core value under the state constitution that extended to all residents, including women seeking an abortion. But the Indiana Supreme Court later set aside that ruling without addressing whether the state constitution included such a right.
Hanlon, a Republican who was first elected in 2014 as a judge in the rural southern Indiana county, wrote that Indiana's constitution 鈥渋s more explicit in its affirmation of individual rights and its limitation of legislative power to intrude into personal affairs鈥� than the U.S. Constitution.
鈥淭here is a reasonable likelihood that decisions about family planning, including decisions about whether to carry pregnancy to term,鈥� are protected by the state constitution, Hanlon wrote.
Planned Parenthood and other abortion clinic operators involved in the lawsuit said in a statement that they were 鈥済rateful that the court granted much needed relief for patients, clients, and providers but this fight is far from over.鈥�
鈥淚ndiana lawmakers have made it abundantly clear that this harm, this cruelty, is exactly the reality they had in mind when they passed (the abortion ban,)鈥� the statement said.
The Indiana abortion ban includes exceptions allowing abortions in cases of rape and incest, before 10 weeks post-fertilization; to protect the life and physical health of the mother; and if a fetus is diagnosed with a lethal anomaly.
The new law also prohibited abortion clinics from providing any abortion care, leaving such services solely to hospitals or outpatient surgical centers owned by hospitals.
Tom Davies, The Associated Press
