The Indiana House today approved by a 67-26 vote a multi-faceted bill requiring the reporting of abortion complications that injure women while creating tougher requirements for abortion businesses applying for licensing in Indiana. The bill also sets the stage for expansion of safe haven baby boxes at fire stations in Indiana to help save newborn babies at risk of abandonment.
Senate Bill 340 requires that physicians, hospitals or abortion clinics must report to the state each case when a woman is injured by an abortion. Complications required to be reported include uterine perforation, cervical perforation, infection, hemorrhaging, respiratory arrest, shock, or incidents in which parts of an aborted baby are left within the woman. The report must also include any indication that the woman treated was seeking an abortion as a result of abuse, coercion, harassment or trafficking.
The bill also tightens the process for abortion licensing in Indiana by requiring that applicants disclose whether it has operated an abortion clinic that was closed due to health and safety concerns, whether a principal or staff members has been convicted of a felony, and whether a principal or staff member was ever employed by a facility owned or operated by the applicant that closed as a result of administrative or legal action.
In addition, the bill provides conditions under which safe haven baby boxes can be expanded at Indiana fire departments, including volunteer fire departments, that are staffed by an emergency medical services provider.
“The Indiana House took strong action today by passing Senate Bill 340,” states Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter. “The days of abortion businesses hiding injuries to women, or looking the other way when women are coerced into abortion, will hopefully come to an end with this important bill.”
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Fichter also congratulates the House for opening the way for greater expansion of safe haven baby boxes in Indiana. “The inclusion of safe haven baby boxes in this bill will be key to saving the lives of babies who might otherwise be at-risk of dying as a result of abandonment. We are thankful for those who took the lead on this issue years ago and have steadfastly moved this idea forward.”
Indiana Right to Life’s mission is to protect the right to life, especially of unborn children, through positive education, compassionate advocacy and promotion of healthy alternatives to abortion.
