Indiana governor signs abortion bill requiring doctors to report abortion complications

The law requires doctors to disclose the age, education, and race of the woman who receives an abortion

Clark Mindock
New York
Tuesday 27 March 2018 01:35 BST
Comments
Mr Holcomb is the third governor to sign similar legislation in the United States
Mr Holcomb is the third governor to sign similar legislation in the United States

The Republican governor of Indiana. Eric Holcomb, has signed a bill that will require doctors to notify state officials when complications arise from abortions.

The bill, which opponents say will help to ensure abortions in the state are safe, has been criticised by opponents as a thinly veiled attempt to stigmatize the procedure.

Doctors are now required to provide yearly reports to state authorities when complications — including blood clots, infections, and death — arise from an abortion procedure.

Indiana is the third state in the United States to pass a similar bill, following after Idaho last week.

“This bill does what two other states have done to gather information on these procedures without restricting access to them,” Mr Holcomb said in a statement after signing the bill.

If the new reporting guidelines are not honoured by physicians, the doctors could be charged with a Class B Misdemeanour, face up to 180 days in prison, and could be forced to pay hefty fines of up to $1,000.

The reports are not supposed to include identifiable information like the names of patients, but does require doctors to disclose quite a bit of information. That includes the race of a patient, their age, the county and state of their residence, the type of procedure performed, and the name of the facility where the abortion is conducted.

The physicians would also be required to disclose the number of abortions a patient has had, their educational level, and their marital status.

The American Civil Liberties of Indiana indicated that it is considering legal action to fight the new law, and that the legislation was passed “under the false guise of patient safety.

The most recent abortion reporting bill was signed by Idaho Gov Butch Otter just last week.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in