Planned Parenthood drops lawsuit against Indiana ultrasound requirement

Planned Parenthood has dropped its lawsuit against an Indiana law requiring an ultrasound to be administered before an abortion. The 2016 state law required women to undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours before having an abortion. It was signed into law by then-governor, now-Vice President Mike Pence.

“Due to events that have occurred in the more than three years since this court entered the preliminary injunction — including, Plaintiff’s addition of a new ultrasound machine at a new clinic in Fort Wayne — the parties have conferred and agree that, on January 1, 2021, the preliminary injunction should be vacated and this case should be dismissed,” read an August 19 court filing.

Those “events” include the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court to send the case back to the lower courts in July 2020. A, a federal district court had issued a preliminary injunction against the ultrasound law in 2017, and that decision was upheld in an appeals court. Then, as Live Action News reported in July, “The new Supreme Court ruling told the 7th Court of Appeals to reconsider both [of Indiana’s abortion] laws, and to keep in mind the recent ruling in Louisiana, in which the Supreme Court ruled that the state’s admitting privileges law is unconstitutional.” This would have allowed the state of Indiana to defend the law in court again.

“I’m pleased that Planned Parenthood saw the likelihood that this very reasonable law ultimately would be upheld,” State Attorney General Curtis Hill said in a statement. “To their credit, they recognized the merits of avoiding further legal wrangling over this matter.”

READ: ‘Game changer’: High school students see the miracle of life through live ultrasounds

“For women considering abortions, ultrasounds are an important part of the informed-consent counseling,” Hill added. “Anyone interested in protecting women’s health, including their mental health, should support giving them as much information as possible to aid their decision-making.”

Planned Parenthood and other abortion businesses often fight pro-life laws because they know those laws have the potential to help protect preborn children from abortion. Ultrasounds are actually used often during abortions, as the abortionist must date the pregnancy to learn which abortion procedure he must use, as well as how much to charge the woman. Ultrasounds expose the truth about the development of the preborn child, and at just eight weeks pregnant, a woman will be able to see her child moving in the womb and hear his or her heartbeat. The abortion industry has financial incentive to oppose ultrasound laws like the one in Indiana.

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