The Quickie: Don't Forget to Keep an Eye on State Legislative Elections

Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.

In today’s Quickie: Don’t forget about state legislative races and Indiana abortion ban trial begins today.

DON’T FORGET TO KEEP AN EYE ON STATE LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS: As reported by Jezebel, a new memo from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) shows just how important it is to follow state legislative races this year. “When you look at how expansive Republicans have been attacking this issue, from abortion bans and contraceptives to doctors not being able to practice freely—this is much broader than just an abortion ban,” DLCC president Heather Williams told Jezebel. “That’s why the legislature is so important in this context.”

When abortion is on the ballot, all we do is win. But state legislatures can still prove a barrier to direct democracy: some states require their legislatures to introduce ballot measures rather than allowing citizens to initiate them via petition. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that in 15 states with abortion bans, legislatively-referred initiatives are the only pathway available. Unless they regain a pro-reproductive freedom majority legislature, these states — including places like Texas, North Carolina, and Georgia — won’t yet have their shot at enshrining abortion rights in their constitutions. 

As Williams said, “there are real opportunities to build foundations toward long-term protections for abortion… ballot measures and state legislative races—it all goes together.”

Read more in Jezebel.

INDIANA ABORTION BAN TRIAL BEGINS TODAY: Today, trial begins in a challenge to Indiana’s total abortion ban. This lawsuit seeks to clarify and broaden the law’s narrow and ambiguous health and life exception and to permit clinics, not just hospitals, to provide abortions.

While the Indiana Supreme Court affirmed that the Indiana Constitution protects the right to an abortion necessary to protect a patient from serious health risks in 2023, most Hoosiers seeking abortion still are forced to leave the state for care. 

"This lawsuit seeks to restore access to health care to pregnant Hoosiers currently endangered by the unconstitutionally limited scope of the health or life exception to Indiana's abortion ban,” said the plaintiffs and attorneys — Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Planned Parenthood Great Northwest, Hawai‘i, Alaska, Indiana, Kentucky, ACLU of Indiana, All-Options, the Lawyering Project — in a statement. “Drafted in a breakneck special legislative session in 2022, the law's exceptions were intentionally made as narrow as possible to appease state legislators arguing for a ban with no exceptions. As a result, Hoosiers with serious health complications have been forced to endure unjustifiable suffering due to miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, and other pregnancy-related issues or leave the state to access appropriate care. Hoosiers deserve, and the Indiana Constitution demands, better."

The trial in this case begins today, Wednesday, May 29 and concludes on Friday, May 31. Media covering the case can find information on attending the trial in-person or streaming the trial remotely in this document from the Circuit Court of Monroe County. 

Read more in Indiana Capital Chronicle and AP.