The Supreme Court Passes Indiana Abortion Law But Avoids Wider Legislation
Just weeks after the near-total ban was passed in Alabama.
It was announced yesterday that the US supreme court has ruled in favor of upholding a law in Indiana which requires aborted embryos and fetuses to be disposed of in the same way as human remains. The court split 7-2 on the decision to allow the state of Indiana to continue to enforce the fetal remains measure which had previously been blocked by a federal appeals court.
However, the justices on the court chose to avoid a debate over a broader, and more controversial, piece of legislation which would prevent women of Indiana from having an abortion based on gender, race, and disability.
Yesterday’s action by the court comes amid ongoing turbulence in America in relation to abortion laws, following the restrictive ruling passed in Alabama earlier this month. Governor Kay Ivey signed a law on 14th May which aims to prohibit almost all cases of abortion in the state.
If a woman has sex with 100 random men in a year, she can still only produce one full term pregnancy. If a guy has sex with 100 random women in a year, he can produce 100 full term pregnancies. So why exactly are we only talking about regulating women?
— Brad Betts (@870South) May 20, 2019
But, these 2 states are not alone in passing restrictive abortion rulings; a total of 7 states have enacted a ban on all, or most, abortions. Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, and Mississippi have all signed near-identical bans into law, whilst North Dakota and Iowa have had their similar bills blocked.
The news from Indiana is reflective of a much wider anti-abortion or so-called ‘pro-life’ movement which has been emboldened by Trump’s presidency. Whilst for decades the anti-abortion movement has moved relatively slowly, it has experienced a surge since those vocal in their support of tighter abortion laws have taken seats in office. The law passed in Indiana was first enacted in 2016 and signed by the now vice president, Mike Pence.
Preview image by @priii_barbosa
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