Judge gets 30-day extension to decide Indiana abortion case
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — It will be at least September before a judge rules on whether Indiana’s new abortion law violates the state’s constitution.
Attorneys for the state and Planned Parenthood have agreed to give Judge Kelsey Hanlon an additional 30 days to issue her ruling.
Judge Hanlon is serving as the special judge presiding over Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit in Monroe County which seeks to overturn all or parts of the abortion restrictions passed in 2022.
Indiana was the first state to pass new restrictions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
The new state law maintained prohibiting abortion at twenty weeks post-fertilization, but allowed only a few exceptions for abortion: Rape or incest, fetal anomalies, saving the mother’s life, or preventing serious health risks.
The Indiana Supreme Court allowed the law to take effect in an August 2023 ruling, but did rule for the first time ever that Indiana’s constitution protects a woman’s right to an abortion when her life or health is at risk.
Indiana trial rules generally require a judge to issue a ruling within 90 days of a hearing.
Judge Hanlon heard three days of arguments in the lawsuit in late May.