Activist Courts Did Not Block Every Measure in the Dignity for the Unborn Law from Taking Effect on July 1st

Perinatal Hospice, Other Measures in Law, Took Effect on July 1st 

from Indiana Right to Life

INDIANAPOLIS - Friday, July 1, perinatal hospice and other measures in the Dignity for the Unborn law (HEA 1337), not blocked by court ruling, took effect. On Thursday, June 30th, federal judge, Tanya Walton Pratt, granted Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union their injunction request against the law's ban on abortions for the sole reason of the child's gender, race, national origin or a potential disability. The injunction also blocked the requirement that aborted children be buried or cremated.

Going into effect are other measures included in the law. Among them:

• A requirement for a health provider to give a mother information from the Indiana Department of Health (ISDH) about perinatal hospice care if her unborn child has been diagnosed with a lethal fetal anomaly. Perinatal hospice has been shown to lead to better outcomes for families.

• A ban on group counseling before an abortion in favor of one-on-one private counseling. This change will allow a pregnant woman to ask personal questions and discuss intimate details of the upcoming procedure.

• Changes to the "Termination of Pregnancy" form, to include early pre-viability terminations, sex of the child (if known), and the diagnosis code for both mother and baby if an abortion is done for these reasons.

• A clarification on the timing of the mandatory ultrasound, already required by Indiana law. The ultrasound must be done at the 18-hour informed consent visit before an abortion, thus preventing an additional visit to the facility.

• An update to Indiana's admitting privileges law, requiring that the abortion doctor document his or her admitting privileges with the ISDH annually. Also, the ISDH is required to notify all hospitals in the county or contiguous counties to the abortion facility of the abortion doctor's admitting privileges in case of an emergency.Another area of the Dignity for the Unborn Law, the ban on the transporting, selling or acquiring of fetal tissue, for any reason other than disposal, is currently not being enforced due to pending litigation. Indiana University filed a lawsuit to continue using aborted baby body parts for experiments. 

"Until all of the Dignity for the Unborn law is shown as constitutional, we are thankful that some key provisions of the law will still go into effect," said Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. "Perinatal hospice gives parents a compassionate option when faced with an adverse prenatal diagnosis. Perinatal hospice allows families to cherish all moments with their child, instead of choosing abortion immediately after a diagnosis. We also are pleased that the Dignity for the Unborn law will provide women seeking abortions with medical privacy that sadly the abortion industry does not automatically give to women. We urge the state of Indiana to fight for all of the Dignity for the Unborn law to go into effect, against the wishes of Planned Parenthood and Indiana University."


Indiana Right to Life's mission is to protect the right to life, especially of unborn children, through positive education, compassionate advocacy and promotion of healthy alternatives to abortion.  Use this link for more information on Indiana Right to Life.  

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