Indiana becomes the first state to ban abortion after Roe v. Wade ruling

Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Indiana becomes the first state to ban abortion.

The new law passed the House and Senate in Indiana.

When then new Indiana abortion ban will take effect

On Friday, August 5, Indiana became the first of 50 US states to pass a new, near total, abortion ban after the Supreme Court recently overturned the 1973 ruling, Roe v. Wade, that protected that right at the federal level, according to EFE and AP.

The initiative was approved on Friday by the General Assembly and shortly after, Indiana’s Republican Governor Eric Holcomb, signed it into law. Now, the law is scheduled to go into effect on September 15, according to EFE.

Indiana becomes the first state enact a near total abortion ban post Roe

Abortion rights activists demonstrate against the US Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, in Washington, June 30, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

At that time, Indiana will join the other nine states in the country with laws that almost completely ban abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, dedicated to reproductive rights research.

The initiative was rejected by the Democrats of the two houses of the General Assembly, but passed anyway because the Republicans have the majority in Indiana. Nearly 72% of the population of this mid-western state is Christian, according to with data from the Pew Research Center.

Republicans claim victory over Democratic opposition in Indiana

Abortion advocates protest outside the Indiana State Courthouse on June 25, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)

Indiana Republicans had been working on this bill for weeks, but they were divided — a majority wanted to completely ban abortion while a minority believed that some exceptions should be established in the case of rape or incest, EFE explained.

In the end, exceptions were included for rape, incest and also in case the fetus has abnormalities that make its survival impossible, or if the life of the mother is in danger. Until now, abortion was legal in Indiana up to 22 weeks, the report noted.

The Supreme Court decision that changed everything

The seat of the Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington on July 14, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

In late June, the conservative-majority Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, ending federal abortion protections and giving states permission to make their own laws. The decision unleashed a huge controversy in the country between those who defend abortion rights and those who oppose it.

This has caused some states to begin implementing so-called «zombie laws» that had been written before the Supreme Court guaranteed the right to abortion in 1973, to restrict abortion, while other states have activated «trigger laws», so called because they were designed to come into effect as soon as the right to abortion was repealed.

Kansas voted to protect abortion rights

Pro-abortion rights protesters fill the halls of the Indiana Legislature, Friday, Aug. 5, 2022, as lawmakers vote for a near-total ban on termination of pregnancy, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Arleigh Rodgers)

“We are backsliding on democracy,” said Democratic Sen. Jean Breaux, who wore a green ribbon in support of abortion rights. «What other freedoms, what other liberties are on the chopping block, waiting to be stripped away?» she added, according to the AP.

Until now, no state has passed a new legislative bill to restrict abortion — Indiana is the first. This decision comes after voters in the state of Kansas voted in a referendum overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the right to abortion intact as it is currently regulated in the state Constitution, in what was a resounding defeat for the conservatives, EFE stated.