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The Militant (logo)
Vol. 80/No. 16 April 25, 2016
(front page)
Repeal Indiana law that restricts right to choose
‘We won’t go back to days of illegal abortion’
Militant/Betsy Farley
"It must be a woman's choice and no one else's," said Courtenay Graham
at April 9 protest in Indianapolis, above, demanding repeal of new law
targeting access to abortion.
BY BETSY FARLEY
INDIANAPOLIS — “We won’t go back!” and “My body, my choice!” chanted
demonstrators outside the Indiana Statehouse April 9 demanding repeal of
the state’s new anti-abortion law. Many in the largely young crowd
numbering some 3,000 held homemade signs.
HEA 1337, signed by Gov. Mike Pence March 24, bans abortions performed
because of a “diagnosis of Down syndrome or any other disability.”
Posing cynically as a civil rights measure, the law also prohibits
abortion based on the “race, color, sex … national origin or ancestry”
of the fetus. And it mandates that fetal remains that are aborted or
miscarried be buried or cremated, adding additional costs to the woman.
The new law requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting
privileges at a local hospital or an agreement with a doctor who does,
renewed yearly. It also says a woman must have the “opportunity” to view
an ultrasound and hear a fetal heart tone 18 hours before an abortion,
requiring two appointments. Such restrictions have already reduced the
number of abortion providers in the state to six, down from 12 in 2011.
Indiana is one of many states where government officials have imposed
increasingly onerous restrictions on abortion access. Utah Gov. Gary
Herbert signed a bill March 30 requiring doctors to administer
anesthesia to any woman having an abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy or
later, adding unnecessary risk to the procedure.
“This is my first protest ever,” said Theresa Carper, 22, a DePauw
University student, at the rally. “This is so important, because
pregnancy must be a woman’s choice and nobody else’s,” her friend
Courtenay Graham added.
“It’s about abortion, but it’s a question of wages too,” said Ashley
Moore, a 26-year-old warehouse worker, pointing out that there is no
union at her job.
“We discussed this law and the protests against it at our Women of Steel
meeting last week,” said Rosa Maria Rodriguez, a steelworker in East
Chicago and an officer of United Steelworkers Local 1010. “We then took
it right to the floor of the union meeting,” winning support, including
from the men. “A large percentage of our members are women and it has to
be our choice,” she said. “There’s no other voice loud enough to be
heard like a union.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has filed a lawsuit on
behalf of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky asking the court to
issue a preliminary injunction to prevent the law from taking effect on
July 1. The suit calls the law unconstitutional because it violates the
14th Amendment guarantee of the right to due process and equal
protection under the law by imposing an “undue burden on a woman’s right
to choose.”
“The ACLU stands firmly against discrimination in all forms, but that
isn’t what this law is about,” Jane Henegar, executive director of the
Indiana ACLU, told the media. “Unnecessary restrictions, like those
recently signed into law, demean women and threaten the quality of their
health care.”
Related articles:
Rallies in Poland seek to defend, extend legal abortion
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