Indiana ban on abortions performed because of fetus's characteristics reinstated by court

Hoosiers can no longer get an abortion solely because of the fetus’s characteristics, such as sex, race or disability.

A ban on those abortions – which had been struck down in federal court – was reinstated this week.

Lawmakers passed the fetal characteristics abortion ban, HEA 1337, in 2016. A federal judge soon struck it down – as did a federal appeals court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

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But in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning guaranteed abortion rights, many such laws are being reinstated. It’s already happened twice in Indiana. And the ban on abortions performed solely because of a fetus’s sex, race or disability is the latest example.

Many of the Indiana laws being reinstated may become irrelevant in the coming weeks, depending on how far state lawmakers go in banning all abortions.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

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