Indiana defeats lawsuit against abortion complications reporting law

A law in Indiana requiring the reporting of any complications that arise during an abortion will stand, despite Planned Parenthood’s objections that it was “unconstitutionally vague,” according to a new federal court ruling this week.

Indiana’s Senate Enrolled Act No. 340, which passed in 2018 but has been held up in court for years, would require doctors to report any of 25 listed complications that can occur after an abortion. Previously, Indiana had won a final ruling related to the same lawsuit in favor of the state’s requirement for abortion facilities to undergo annual inspections.

“The legislature had a legitimate concern that researchers have insufficient data available to study the safety of abortion,” Attorney General Todd Rokita said, according to a press release. “This law advances the causes of compassion, common sense, medical science and public health.”

READ: Pro-life win: Indiana approves additional $45M to support pregnant and postpartum women

As Live Action News has reported, abortion complications in the United States are under-reported, making it difficult to hold providers accountable. The Indiana law was put in place after serious examples of deceptive abortion reporting practices came to light. Indiana abortionist Ulrich Klopfer, in whose home were found the remains of more than 2,000 aborted babies, repeatedly submitted false and incomplete data to authorities, as Live Action News reported.

The Guttmacher Institute – the pro-abortion organization which formerly served as the research arm of Planned Parenthood – has reported that only 28 states are required to report complications that arise as a result of abortion procedures.

The court’s decision marks the fifth pro-life legal victory for Rokita and the state of Indiana since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, according to a press release. Other recent wins in federal court have included a defense of Indiana’s parental notification law, the lifting of an injunction against a ban on dismemberment abortions, the vacating of the Whole Woman’s Health Alliance v. Rokita ruling that had invalidated several pro-life laws, and the vacating of a ruling that had blocked an Indiana law outlawing abortion based on a preborn child’s race, sex, or disability.

Planned Parenthood challenged the law in 2018, calling the reporting and medical inspection “unique and burdensome,” as well as so “vague and uncertain … as to be meaningless,” according to the Chicago Tribune. But as Indiana Right to Life’s President and CEO Mike Fichter said, the reporting requirement “brings needed transparency to the abortion industry.”

“We are making strong and steady progress in protecting women’s health and safeguarding unborn children,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Day by day, we are building a culture that respects the lives and well-being of all Hoosiers.”

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