Dave Stafford for www.theindianalawyer.com
A federal judge on Thursday blocked an Indiana abortion law that was set to take effect July 1 that would have required the reporting of complications arising from abortions to the state.
The decision was a victory for Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, which with the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued in federal district court in Evansville to block the new law.
“The court finds PINK has satisfied its burden to obtain a preliminary injunction of Indiana Senate Enrolled Act No. 340,†Indiana Southern District Judge Richard Young wrote in Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc. v. Commissioner, Indiana State Department of Health, et al., 1:18-cv-01219.
Young’s order preliminarily enjoins the Department of Health, the Indiana Medical Licensing Board, and the prosecutors of Marion, Lake, Monroe and Tippecanoe counties from enforcing the law.
The decision found the balance of harms and the public interest weighed in favor of an injunction blocking the law, and that PINK had shown it would suffer irreparable harm if an injunction were not issued. Young also found Planned Parenthood had shown a likelihood of success on its argument that the statute is void for vagueness. Because it reached that conclusion, the court did not express an opinion on PPINK’s due process and equal protection claims.
