Indiana judge rules against abortion providers fighting near-total ban

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indiana county judge has ruled against abortion providers who are seeking to broaden access to the procedure under the near-total ban state lawmakers passed in 2022. The judge on Wednesday denied the providers’ request for a permanent injunction to expand medical exemptions and block the requirement that abortions only be performed at hospitals. The providers include the regional Planned Parenthood affiliate. They are likely to appeal the judge’s ruling. Indiana became the first state to enact tighter restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court ended federal abortion protections in June 2022. Clinics stopped providing abortions in August 2023 after the state’s highest court upheld the ban.