Indiana abortion funding resource skyrockets nearly 400% in funds given
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — All Options Pregnancy Center helps to provide Hoosier women funding for abortions.
Programs Manager, Jessica Marchbank, says their pledged funding increased by nearly 400% in a year.
“In February of 2022, we provided funding to about 70 people for the month of February, about almost $17,000 pledged toward their care,” explained Marchbank. “And in February of 2023, we provided funding for 254 people at $57,000. So that’s a dramatic increase.”
Marchbank says some funds went to Hoosiers traveling outside of the state to receive abortions.
“If someone can get to Illinois, that’s just a more attractive option for them. Because Illinois has fewer restrictions, it’s often less expensive,” she said.
According to data from the Indiana Department of Health, abortions in Indiana decreased by nearly 50% despite a pause on the state’s abortion ban:
- July 2022, 1,033
- August 2022, 1,081
- September 2022, 1,029
- October 2022, 446
- November 2022, 606
- December 2022, 755
- January 2023, 405
Katie Blair, the Advocacy and Public Policy Director for the ACLU, gave I-Team 8 this statement in response to the decrease:
“Although abortion remains legal, in the past decade, the Indiana General Assembly has enacted more than 50 abortion restrictive laws. These laws, combined with the looming ban that is now held up in the courts can make it more challenging for providers to offer reproductive care, and more difficult for women to access the care they need. Women who can’t afford the added expense that hard-to-access care requires, such as extra time off work or extra childcare, may not be able to receive timely care, may be forced to continue an unsafe or unwanted pregnancy, or may try to get an abortion in some unsafe way.”
Katie Blair, the Advocacy and Public Policy Director for the ACLU
I-Team 8 did reach out to Indiana Right to Life to ask if they see the decrease as a positive sign and did not hear back yet.
“This is this is not okay,” Marchbank said. “You should not have to work so hard to get the basic care that you need.”