Indiana Department of Health shows drop in abortions this year… but questions remain

An Indiana Department of Health report reveals that the number of abortions being carried out in the state has declined since the passage of a pro-life law — even though the law has not yet taken effect.

The report, released on June 30, showed that the state’s total number of abortions in 2022 increased by 13%, which is believed to have been caused by an increase in women coming from states with pro-life laws including Kentucky and Ohio. However, at the end of 2022 and in the first months of 2023, data shows that the number of abortions in the state dropped.

The number of total abortions in Indiana for the first quarter of 2023 was 1,927 compared to 2,286 abortions during the same time frame in 2022. However, the number of abortions on out-of-state women in the first quarter of 2023 totaled 383, a large increase over the 127 abortions on non-residents in the same time frame of 2022. The majority of those women came from Kentucky. U.S. abortion data shows that 86% of women who have abortions are unmarried.

The reports also show a spike in abortion complications, from 14 reports of 16 complications in 2021 to 100 reports of 121 complications in 2022 — and 28 reported complications for the first quarter alone of 2023.

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There are seven abortion facilities in the state, five of which are hospitals that commit abortions. Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital and Schneck Medical Center reported that they committed zero abortions on Indiana residents and non-residents in the first quarter of 2023; however, each reported two abortions on non-residents in that time period. The three Indiana Planned Parenthood affiliates carried out a combined 796 abortions, or about 41.3% of all abortions in the state for the first quarter of 2023. This percentage matches Planned Parenthood’s overall national abortion market share.

Indiana was the first state to pass a pro-life law following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. That law was slated to take effect on September 15, 2022, but was held up in court following a lawsuit from Planned Parenthood. Despite the block on the law, abortions in the state declined in the months following its passage on August 5, 2022.

According to the AP, the law would only allow abortions in hospitals or outpatient centers owned by hospitals, and it would protect most preborn children from abortion even in the first weeks of pregnancy, with exceptions to allow for the killing of babies conceived in rape or incest prior to 10 weeks post-fertilization. Another exception would allow preborn children who receive a prenatal diagnosis to be killed by abortion up to 20 weeks, as well as allowing abortion up to 20 weeks to save the mother’s life or physical health.

On the same day that the Department of Health released its data, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that the state’s pro-life law does not violate the state constitution, but it remains unclear when the law may take effect. The case has been sent to the county judge for further action and the law is also facing a legal challenge over the claim that it violates the state’s 2015 religious freedom law.