Indiana’s latest abortion statistics are a positive sign that the state’s law is reducing abortions, though 41 babies were still tragically aborted in the most recent quarter. Questions also remain about the effect of abortion drugs and the legality of abortion in nearby states.
For the second straight quarter, a baby survived an abortion in Indiana.
The state released its latest “Terminated Pregnancy Report” on November 27, covering abortions for the period July 1 of this year through September 30.
Just like the last quarter, another baby appears to have survived an abortion. The state previously told LifeSiteNews it does not follow up but only tracks reported data.
Indiana law recognizes the human rights of the baby who survives an abortion.
It states:
Any fetus [baby] born alive shall be treated as a person under the law, and a birth certificate shall be issued certifying the child’s birth even though the child may subsequently die, in which event a death certificate shall be issued. Failure to take all reasonable steps, in keeping with good medical practice, to preserve the life and health of the live born person shall subject the responsible persons to Indiana laws governing homicide, manslaughter, and civil liability for wrongful death and medical malpractice.
There was a total of 41 abortions committed in Indiana for the most recent quarter, compared to 763 for the prior quarter, representing a drop around 95 percent compared to the same time period in 2023. The latest report completes the first full year since the law went into effect following legal challenges. In total, abortions dropped 98 percent according to an analysis by State Affairs. This is consistent with other quarterly data drops as reported by LifeSiteNews.
Indiana allows broad exceptions for abortion
Eight innocent preborn babies were killed via abortion drugs, while another 13 were killed using “intracardiac interjections.” This is the same as a heart attack abortion, where an innocent baby is injected with drugs to cause cardiac arrest.
Abortionists killed another 20 babies via “surgical” abortions.
Babies can be aborted up to 10 weeks in Indiana if conceived in rape or incest as well as for alleged “substantial and irreversible physical impairment” of the mother’s health, according to the legislation. The law also allows for the killing of preborn babies if the baby allegedly “suffers from an irremediable medical condition that is incompatible with sustained life outside the womb up to 20 weeks.”
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The “health” exception specifically excludes the broad “psychological or emotional” carveout. “A medical condition may not be determined to exist based on a claim or diagnosis that the woman will engage in conduct that she intends to result in her death or in physical harm.”
The law also bans abortion facilities, leaving only hospitals to kill unborn babies.
While the law includes exceptions, pro-lifers stress that a baby’s inherent human dignity and right to life does not come from the circumstances of his or her conception. Direct abortion is never medically necessary, as medical experts have also attested.
Six abortions were reported due to “rape/incest,” 26 were attributed to alleged “lethal fetal anomaly,” and nine were due to purported “serious health risk/life of the pregnant woman.”
Indiana Right to Life did not fully endorse the law based on the exemptions, as LifeSiteNews previously reported.
“(W)e acknowledge the path forward is either the potential to end the vast majority of abortions in Indiana, beginning with the closure of Indiana abortion clinics in mid-September, or allowing all abortions to continue under current law, as women from Ohio, Kentucky, and other states travel to Indiana for abortions,” the group said in 2022. “We urge every legislator to prayerfully consider how their vote will impact the path Indiana now chooses.”
CEO Mike Fichter released a new statement to State Affairs. He said more information is needed to determine if abortionists are following the law, the State Department of Health is refusing to release individual reports, and the matter is still being litigated.
“Proper enforcement includes public review of these reports, which in the past has resulted in multiple complaints based on report data indicating the law was not being followed,” Fichter told State Affairs. “We have no confidence that the state department of health is thoroughly reviewing filed reports, taking any enforcement actions against abortion providers submitting inaccurate or incomplete reports, or reports indicating abortions were done outside the scope of the law.”
As LifeSiteNews has previously noted, the decrease in reported abortions cannot fully capture other circumstances, such as women who traveled to nearby Illinois and Michigan for abortions. The reported abortions also don’t include self-induced, at-home abortions committed with abortion pills purchased online out of state or out of the country.
Around one in three abortions included complications
Abortion can never truly be safe, because it usually ends with the destruction of an innocent human being. But Indiana’s companion “complications report” also shows abortion is dangerous for women, including with abortion drugs. Yet, the Biden administration loosened regulations on the distribution of the drugs, contradicting longstanding federal law.
Among 41 abortions, there were 17 total complications, although one abortion may have multiple complications. Still, this is a high rate of complications.
In fact, about one-third of abortions had at least one complication, since there were 12 reported instances of “incomplete abortion.”
Abortionists also reported infection, vaginal bleeding, and missed ectopic pregnancy. The latter can be expected, since the Biden administration removed the requirement for a woman to visit a doctor prior to getting abortion drugs.
However, the effect abortion drug availability has on undermining bans has been challenged by Professor Michael New, a well-respected social scientist at Catholic University of America.
A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a small decrease in the total number of abortions following the reversal of Roe v. Wade, though the accuracy, particularly since some states do not report abortion stats, remains unclear.
Since the Supreme Court decision in June 2022, various reports have come out suggesting different effects of the decision on abortions and birth rates.
A LifeSiteNews analysis found lives have been saved from laws against abortion. Furthermore, births have risen in places like Texas, where abortion is restricted, suggesting lives are being saved.
