Indiana Senate passes bill to stop abortion pill trafficking

The Indiana Senate passed a bill last week that would curtail illegal abortion pill distribution in the state by allowing private lawsuits against those who manufacture, prescribe, or distribute the pill.

Key Takeaways:

• The Indiana Senate passed a bill that would allow civil lawsuits against those who manufacture, prescribe, or distribute the abortion pill.

• Indiana law protects nearly all preborn children from abortion.

• The bill aims to stop the flow of illegal abortion pills into the state.

• The bill next heads to the Indiana House for consideration.

The Details:

Senate Bill 236, the “Anti-Chemical Abortion Pill Trafficking Act,” passed the Senate by a 35-10 vote on January 27.

Indiana law protects nearly all preborn children from abortion; however, because the abortion pill can be prescribed virtually and shipped via mail, Indiana children are still being killed by chemical abortion. SB 236, authored by Sens. Tyler Johnson and Liz Brown, attempts to stop the flow of abortion drugs by allowing anyone who prescribes, manufactures, or distributes the abortion pill to be sued for wrongful death.

“We’re seeing more and more that outside agencies, if you will, or organizations are flooding our state with the abortion pill. Not only is that illegal, but it puts women’s lives, obviously, it puts the baby’s life at risk as well,” Brown explained.

“In this state, as a pro-life state, it is a public interest if someone is violating these laws (...) If there’s a prescriber, or someone grabbing these pills or these, you know, sort of the wild wild west online of abortion pill providers, we can go after them, if we can find them,” she added.

The legislation also includes a ‘whistleblower’ provision that allows anyone to file a lawsuit on behalf of the state.  Violators could face civil penalties of up to $100,000 per offense and a 20-year statute of limitations.

“This is not a punishment for its own sake. It’s to protect the most vulnerable among us, the unborn, and give families a voice when their children are harmed or their loved ones are harmed,” Johnson said.

The bill next heads to the Indiana House for consideration.

Why it Matters:

Though there are several states that have preborn protections like Indiana, incidents elsewhere prove that the abortion pill is still making its way into those states — injuring women and killing preborn children in the process.

For instance, in Louisiana, a teenaged girl experienced an abortion injury after her mother ordered the abortion pill and coerced the girl into taking the pill against her will, while in Texas, a woman experienced complications after taking the abortion pill she ordered through the mail.

There are also reports of abusive men illegally ordering the pill and then forcing women to take it against their will. When the abortion pill is available through the mail without any doctor's visit or other verification, anyone can order it and use it with ill intent.

The Bottom Line:

The bill received praise from SFLAction President Kristan Hawkins, who said it will help curtail the influx of the deadly abortion drugs into the state.

“This is exactly what GOP legislators should be doing — using their skills to quickly and decisively push pro-life legislation addressing a killer that moves through the mail —  Chemical Abortion Pills,” Hawkins said in a press release. “These deadly drugs kill innocent babies; expose women [to] injury, infertility, and death; empower abusers; and create abortion water pollution by the tons.”