Parental Notification Abortion Bill Headed To Holcomb's Desk

Gov. Eric Holcomb will soon have to decide whether to sign a bill dealing with parental notification of abortion after the Senate advanced the measure.

Girls under the age of 18 can go to court to get consent for abortion if their parents don’t give that consent.

Proposed legislation originally required parents to be notified of that judicial hearing. But the bill’s final form puts the decision in the judge’s hands: they decide whether parents are notified after granting consent.

Bill author Sen. Erin Houchin (R-Salem) says the measure also requires parents provide proof of identification when giving consent for an abortion.

“Not just a verbal attestation or a phone call – they have to provide written documentation,” Houchin says.

Sen. Mark Stoops (D-Bloomington) says while some of the bill’s, as he puts it, “more onerous provisions” were changed, the measure still creates unnecessary barriers.

“I wish we didn’t have to go through this every session and then be embarrassed about it when a court overturns whatever we’ve done,” Stoops says. “Not to mention millions of dollars that have been spent in defending the state in these unconstitutional provisions we have to limit a woman’s right to choose.”

After the Senate’s 31 to 10 vote, the measure heads to the governor.