INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indiana Supreme Court ruled Friday that the state’s abortion ban does not violate the state’s constitution, removing a major obstacle to the enforcement of the approved ban. by Republicans last summer.
The court’s decision overturns a county judge’s ruling that the ban likely violates the privacy protections of the state constitution, which it says are stronger than those found in the US Constitution. That judge’s order has allowed abortions to continue in Indiana since September, despite the ban.
An opinion from three of the court’s five justices said that while the Indiana constitution provides some protection for the right to abortion, “the General Assembly otherwise retains broad legislative authority to determine whether and to what extent ban abortions.
All five Indiana Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republican governors.
Indiana became the first state to enact tougher abortion restrictions, acting in August, after the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated federal protections by overturning Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Indiana’s abortion ban, however, is still the subject of a separate legal challenge over alleged violations of the law. State Religious Freedom Act of 2015 signed by the then-GOP. Mike Pence.