The Indiana Supreme Court is promising a ruling “in due course” on whether to allow Indiana’s 2022 abortion law to take effect.

On Jan. 19, the five justices heard 70 minutes of oral arguments on the law, which has been on hold since an Owen County judge issued a preliminary injunction in September. Judge Kelsey Hanlon ruled the law appears to violate the Indiana Constitution’s very first clause, which guarantees rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher argued those words do not translate to specific, enforceable rights, and that even if they do, a right to abortion is not among them. And he argued the abortion providers who filed the lawsuit, led by Planned Parenthood, are affected by the law only indirectly. Without a plaintiff who has actually been denied an abortion, Fisher contended, the case should be thrown out on that basis without reaching the constitutional issues.

American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana Legal Director Ken Falk maintained the clinic operators and physicians who filed the suit are directly affected by the law as well, because they could lose their licenses and face criminal charges if they perform abortions. And he argued the guarantee of “liberty” in the clause under discussion protects Hoosiers’ right “to manage the most intimate aspects of our lives,” unless those rights are ceded explicitly to the state. He argued few would disagree if the Court struck down a hypothetical law limiting families to two children, even without a law that specifically conflicted with it.

The abortion law would ban nearly all abortions in Indiana, with exceptions only for rape or incest within the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, in cases involving a lethal fetal anomaly, or where the woman faces a serious health risk from the pregnancy. The law was in effect for a week before Hanlon issued her injunction. 

The Court has no deadline to rule, and Chief Justice Loretta Rush said only that the Court would issue its ruling “in due course.” ISMA will continue to follow developments in the case and keep members informed.