November 9, 2021
Carson City, NV – Today, Attorney General Aaron D. Ford
joined a coalition of 20 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief supporting
a constitutional challenge to several Indiana laws that impose burdensome
restrictions on abortion providers.
The coalition filed the brief in the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the 7th Circuit in Whole
Woman’s Health Alliance v. Rokita. Plaintiffs in that case obtained an
injunction enjoining the enforcement of numerous Indiana abortion laws that
unduly burden access to abortion care. The defendants are now appealing from
that decision. In today’s brief, the coalition argues that the district court’s
ruling is consistent with Supreme Court precedent and should be upheld.
“The right to an abortion must not be burdened with
laws that make it almost impossible to express,” said AG Ford. “Women’s
bodily autonomy, and their right to health care, must not be infringed upon. My
office will always stand up for the rights of all Americans to necessary, and
safe, health care.”
Indiana’s laws impose restrictions on abortion
providers that are not imposed on other health care providers, including a
requirement that only physicians can perform first-trimester medication
abortions; a requirement that second-trimester abortions be performed in a hospital
or ambulatory surgical center; a requirement that abortion providers make
certain mandatory disclosures in-person to their patients at least 18 hours
before performing abortions; and a ban on telemedicine to prescribe
abortion-related medications.
Citing testimony from a seven-day district court
trial, the coalition argues that the court properly ruled that these laws
create an undue burden for patients, especially low-income women. The attorneys
general assert that by limiting access to abortion, Indiana’s laws force women
to travel to seek care, thereby increasing costs and making it more difficult
for people to obtain important health care services.
In filing the brief, AG Ford joins the attorneys
general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of
Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New
Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
The brief is attached.
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