Just hours after the Indiana House of Representatives passed Senate Abortion Ban Bill 1 on Friday, the Senate approved changes to the bill and voted 28 to 19 for adopt it. The bill was signed by Governor Eric Holcomb shortly thereafter and will become law on September 15.
Passage of the bill makes Indiana the first state in the nation to ban abortion in a special session following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case.
The bill prohibits abortions with a few exceptions. In cases of rape or incest, abortions are prohibited after 10 weeks and require an affidavit. For fatal fetal abnormalities, a pregnant person can have an abortion before 20 weeks. There is also an exception for cases where the pregnancy poses a risk to the life and physical health of the pregnant person.
If a doctor performs an illegal abortion, they would risk a loss of license and be charged with a felony level 5, which carries a sentence of one to six years in prison. The pregnant person would not be charged.
Although Indiana’s final bill includes exceptions outlined in the original draft, many Republicans have said they hope to pass new restrictions in the regular January legislative session. Other Republicans said they wanted more provisions to help pregnant women included in Senate Bill 2, which they said they would also like to work on in the regular session.