Indiana Supreme Court prevents enforcement of abortion ban, will hear arguments in January

INDIANAPOLIS (WXIN) – The Indiana Supreme Court will decide the fate of the state’s new abortion law.

The court on Wednesday issued an order that prevents the enforcement of a Republican-backed abortion ban while it considers whether it violates the state constitution.

The order stated that the state Supreme Court would take over appeals of a decision last month that blocked the law.

The ACLU of Indiana and a group of abortion providers filed a lawsuit on Aug. 31 seeking to block the ban, which went into effect on Sept. 15 after it passed during a special session of the legislature. But Special Judge Kelsey B. Hanlon issued an injunction last month after hearing arguments in the case.

In an order unveiled Wednesday, the court granted a request to bypass the state’s Court of Appeals and handle the case directly — a request that came from Indiana Attorney General Today Rokita. The decision means that Indiana’s highest court will assume jurisdiction of the case.

The case will now proceed as if it had been originally filed in the Supreme Court, which will now take up the issue of the state’s appeal of the preliminary injunction.

The court will hear oral arguments on the injunction on Jan. 12, 2023. A separate order will provide further details about the arguments.

The Indiana ban, signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb (R), aimed to replace state laws that generally prohibited abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy and tightly restricted them after the 13th week. The new law prohibits abortion at all times during pregnancy except in cases of rape or incest up to 10 weeks post-fertilization, or in cases of a risk to the mother’s health and fetal fatal anomaly.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.