ACLU sues over Indiana’s ban on dismemberment abortions and expansion of conscience protections

By Dave Andrusko

Two days after Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb signed into law House Enrolled Act 1211, which bans the practice of dismembering living unborn children, and Senate Bill 201, which expands Indiana law to extend conscience protections to additional medical providers, the ACLU filed a lawsuit.

Not that it matters to the monomaniacal pro-abortion ACLU, but HE 1211 passed the Senate by an almost four to one margin (38-10) and the House by an almost three to one margin (71-25).

In so doing, Indiana joined eleven other states in enacting a law that forbid the hideous dismemberment technique in which the abortionist first dilates the woman’s cervix and then uses steel instruments to dismember the living, unborn baby, piece by bloody piece.

“HEA 1211 will discourage women from obtaining abortions and will impose a substantial and unwarranted burden on women’s ability to obtain second-trimester, pre-viability, abortions,” huffed Ken Falk, legal director at the ACLU of Indiana.

The ACLU also couldn’t abide Senate Bill 201, authored by Sen. Liz Brown. State law previously allowed only physicians and hospital employees to object to participating in abortions for ethical, moral or religious reasons. SB 201 extends conscience protections to other medical providers, including nurses, physician assistants and pharmacists.

This is now more important than ever with chemical abortions (“medication abortion,” in pro-abortion parlance) constituting a growing percentage of abortion.

”Chemical abortions are on the rise in Indiana,” said Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter. “As more women seek chemical abortions that use pills, pharmacists and other health care workers may become unwilling participants in an abortion. Thank you to Sen. Brown for authoring this conscience protection bill. All health care providers must be able to practice their profession in Indiana without helping to end a child’s life against their conscience.”

As the ban on dismemberment abortions moved its way through the Senate, bill sponsor Sen. Liz Brown said, “[I]n House Bill 1211, we are only restricting a particularly barbaric practice.” Added Senator Sen. Jim Tomes, passing the bill was a chance to take “this ugly stain off our nation’s soul,” and “protect these little babies.”

“Hoosiers spoke up in great numbers against the atrocity of dismemberment abortions this spring,” said Fichter. “Legislators listened, and thanks to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s signature, children will be protected from barbaric dismemberment abortions in Indiana. We thank our pro-life elected officials for their leadership.”