Jan 12, 2025
INDIANA SENATE BILL 171 - AN EMBARRASSMENT ON THE NATIONAL LEVEL
Indiana’s SB 171 is already getting nationwide attention from reproductive rights activists including Jessica Valenti and Abortion Access Front. Despite Indiana’s existing near-total abortion ban, this bill would ban medication abortion entirely, making it a crime to possess abortion medication and illegal to possess or prescribe any “abortion-inducing drug” and criminalize abortion funds altogether. It would also prevent private insurance from covering the cost of medication abortion, even if the pills are acquired or taken in another state.
Opponents are quick to point out the limited exceptions available for victims of rape and incest, but SB 171 would narrow the exceptions even further by requiring an affidavit under penalty of perjury before rape victims would be permitted a surgical abortion, the Hoosier state’s only remaining option.
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As OBGYN Dr. Caitlin Bernard told the Indiana Capital Chronicle, “This is a government intrusion into medicine and health care with no other purpose but to put extreme ideology into law and take medical options away from patients.”
The bill’s author, Sen. Mike Young from Indianapolis, says he believes medication abortions are more dangerous and thus should be banned. They have been found to be safer than penicillin or Viagra with a patient death rate of of 0.0005%.
WOMEN4CHANGE
In addition to opposing SB 171, Women4Change Indiana included their stance on several other bills in their latest newsletter:
SB 152: Possession of Firearms - SUPPORT
This would make it a Class C misdemeanor for people to bring a firearm into a polling place, an area where voters are likely to gather, and any room used for ballot counting, with possible enhancements. It would also increase the minimum age to carry a firearm to 21.
HB 1093: Sexual Assault Victims’ Rights - SUPPORT
This bill requires law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to submit sexual assault data to the Indiana criminal justice institute, and for the institute to submit an annual report to the state sexual assault team summarizing the data. It also assures victims the right to have evidence of their assault collected and analyzed, the victim’s ability to receive a copy of their police report, and further protective legal procedures during the legal process.
BILL WATCH 2025
Almost all House and Senate committees have meetings scheduled for Wednesday, January 15th. Here are the bills on the schedule to watch:
SB 123: unemployment benefit changes - OPPOSE
This bill aims to cut the amount of time a person can receive unemployment by almost half. Currently, unemployment can be collected for 26 weeks; this bill would limit it to 14 weeks, and add work requirements.
contact Chairwoman Rogers
HB 1167: test strips - SUPPORT
This is a bill to legalize the possession of fentanyl test trips. Indiana is one of four states where possessing the strips is still illegal.
contact Chairman Freeman
SB 142: eviction issues - SUPPORT
This bill allows automatic expungement of qualifying evictions. Under current law, the tenant must request this. Qualifying evictions include those with money judgments that the tenant has paid and evictions from over seven years ago.
contact Chairwoman Brown
SB 143: parental rights (OPPOSE)
from MADVoters Indiana Facebook page re: why oppose this bill: “SB 143 is an inflammatory bill built on culture issues, and could really endanger vulnerable youth in unsafe homes. For example, last year the legislature pushed through a new law to mandate schools inform parents if their child requested a new name or pronoun at school. This is a sensitive and complex topic, and if a student feels their parents aren't a safe person to tell, it's a pretty clear indicator that the student may not be living in a safe and supportive household. Youth have a right to safety, and while we as parents and caregivers nurture and guide them, they are their own people, and not for us to domineer, control, and force into unsafe situations.”
contact Chairwoman Brown
SB 157: property rights (WATCH)
This bill defines a squatter as a person who does not have and has never had a rental agreement, the owner’s permission, or a legal interest in a property they are inhabiting. It allows the property owner to send the police to remove the squatter within 48 hours without credible written evidence to the contrary.
LOCAL MATTERS
City Council:
Last week the Terre Haute City Council again tabled General Ordinance 16, 2024. This would limit where new tobacco and vape shops could open in the city, requiring a new tobacco or vape shop to be more than 5000 feet from an existing one. The city council is set to vote on this ordinance at their February 6th meeting, which can be viewed live or later on the City of Terre Haute YouTube page.
Crackerbarrel:
Each month the General Assembly is in session, our local state senator and representatives are invited to the Vigo County Public Library to interact with the public. It’s panel style, and constituents are invited to line up to ask questions. The first Crackerbarrel was this morning. The next session will be on Feb. 8 from 10 a.m. to noon.
Full information on the event can be found here.
NATIONAL CALLS TO ACTION
The Laken Riley Act: the Senate already passed a motion on Thursday to let this bill proceed to Senate debate, but we can still email our Senators to vote NO on the final bill. For more information, review this letter from the American Immigration Lawyers Association about his bill, and then forward that letter to Senators Young and Banks.
Biden is still President until January 19th, so he still has time to pardon a few more people. I’ve seen petitions circulating for Ravi Ragbir, an immigration activist under threat of deportation, and calls for supporters to email [email protected] to request that President Biden issue a pardon for DREAMers.
You can also sign this National Immigration Law Center petition to request other steps to protect immigrants from mass deportation threats.
Anything you want to see? email me at [email protected]
I’ll be back next weekend for another bill roundup for the week