Indiana Planned Parenthood, ACLU Celebrate Latest Abortion Ruling Victory

Indiana’s Planned Parenthood and ACLU leaders celebrated their latest victory in court Thursday. And ACLU of Indiana Legal Director Ken Falk says such occasions have become “routine.”

A federal appeals court ruled a 2016 Indiana law that required women have an ultrasound at least 18 hours before their abortion was unconstitutional. It said such a requirement created an unnecessary burden.

It’s the seventh such lawsuit since 2011 – and the state has lost, so far, in all of them, as Falk notes.

“I would hope that at some point some of the legislature decides that is not the best use of time and ultimately the state of Indiana’s money,” Falk says.

Some wonder whether looming changes at the U.S. Supreme Court could mean different results in the future. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky President and CEO Christie Gillespie says she’s concerned about that.

“An overturn of Roe v. Wade just takes us back to those days of backalley abortions,” Gillespie says.

On the other side, Attorney General Curtis Hill says in a statement he’s disappointed by the court’s ruling.