Filed Date: Aug. 31, 2022
Case Ongoing
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The plaintiffs in this lawsuit are Planned Parenthood Great Northwest (which covers Indiana, among other states, and is the largest provider of reproductive health services in Indiana), three other plaintiffs operating in Indiana and offering either licensed abortion clinics or other services and a doctor who provides abortions in the state of Indiana. The plaintiffs filed this lawsuit on August 31, 2022, to challenge Indiana's abortion ban, Senate Enrolled Act 1 (SB 1). SB 1 criminalized all abortion (from conception onwards) except in some cases of rape, incest, fatal fetal abnormality, or when the pregnant individual faces the risk of death or certain severe health risks. Even during one of those exceptions, SB 1 required that abortions be performed at hospitals or ambulatory surgery centers, a majority of which are owned by hospitals, rather than at licensed abortion clinics such as Planned Parenthood. Prior to SB 1, abortion in multiple settings was legal in Indiana up until 22 weeks and 98.4% of abortions did not occur in hospitals. This Indiana ban was the first to make it to the books following the United States Supreme Court's June 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health.
Planned Parenthood filed this action in Monroe Circuit Court 6, Monroe County, and named the members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana as well as various Indiana prosecutors charged with enforcing SB 1 as the defendants. Planned Parenthood argued that SB 1 violated the Indiana Constitution by (1) denying its guarantee of liberty and privacy, which includes abortion, (2) violating the Equal Protection Clause, by discriminating against abortion providers, and (3) failing to provide due course of law since it is too vague and contradictory regarding gestational age limits. However, Planned Parenthood subsequently withdrew this third claim on September 16, 2022. A related case in Marion Superior Court, Anonymous Plaintiffs 1-5 v. Individual Members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana, challenged SB 1 on religious grounds.
In the complaint, plaintiffs requested a preliminary injunction, and on September 12, 2022, the plaintiffs also requested a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO). Judge Kelsey B. Hanlon, was assigned to the case. On September 15, Judge Hanlon declined to issue the TRO because preliminary injunction arguments were scheduled on September 19. On September 22, Judge Hanlon issued a preliminary injunction. Judge Hanlon agreed with most of Planned Parenthood's factual allegations, including that restricting abortions to hospitals only imposed a "significant burden" upon obtaining care. The Court also found that the plaintiffs were likely to later prevail on the merits based on their state constitution liberty claim, which encompassed more rights than the federal constitution, even though she thought their Equal Protection claim would fail, since there was a conceivable reason the plaintiff abortion providers were different from hospital settings. Additionally, the Court concluded that the plaintiffs would be irreparably harmed absent the preliminary injunction, the harm to the plaintiffs outweighed the harm to the defendants, and that a lack of injunction would disserve the public interest.
Indiana appealed the preliminary injunction and requested a stay in the Indiana Court of Appeals the next day, September 23, 2022. Indiana requested that the case be expedited on September 26, but the Court of Appeals, through Judges Rudolph R. Pyle III, Ezra H. Friedlander, and Chief Judge Cale J. Bradford, denied the expedition. At some point in the interim, Indiana filed an Emergency Petition requesting the case be transferred to the Indiana State Supreme Court.
On October 12, 2022, the Indiana Supreme Court accepted the case transfer, 195 N.E.3d 384, which on October 17, terminated the Court of Appeals docket. On October 25, after both parties had mutually agreed to stay the trial court litigation because of the transfer, Judge Hanlon confirmed the stay. The Indiana Supreme Court was fully briefed as of December 21, 2022 and oral argument was scheduled for January 12, 2023.
Summary Authors
Sophia Bucci (12/30/2022)
State / Territory: Indiana
Case Type(s):
Key Dates
Filing Date: Aug. 31, 2022
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Planned Parenthood operating in Indiana, related abortion and reproductive health care providers, and a doctor
Attorney Organizations:
Planned Parenthood Federation of America
Public Interest Lawyer: Yes
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
Defendant Type(s):
Case Details
Causes of Action:
Available Documents:
Injunctive (or Injunctive-like) Relief
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Nature of Relief:
Preliminary injunction / Temp. restraining order
Source of Relief:
Order Duration: 2022 - None
Content of Injunction:
Issues
Reproductive rights:
Reproductive health care (including birth control, abortion, and others)
General:
Affected Sex or Gender:
Medical/Mental Health:
Type of Facility: