INDIANAPOLIS— Today, Senate Enrolled Act 1, a near-total ban on abortion that even restricts the ability of rape and incest victims to receive abortion services, goes into effect in Indiana. State Senator Jean Breaux (D-Indianapolis) offered the following statement:

“Effective today, Hoosier women no longer have the right to choose. Instead, Republican legislators in the Statehouse decided that they know best and will force Hoosier women to give birth with very limited exceptions. Even in cases of rape and incest, women will only have 10 weeks to seek abortion care which will now be much more difficult to access. This will only worsen Indiana’s maternal mortality rate which is already the 3rd worst in the country.

“The legislature should have worked on improving access to birth control to help improve family planning, funding doula services so that women have more support during pregnancy and supporting families with investments in childcare rather than banning abortion. Republicans took away a woman’s right to choose in Indiana in just two weeks resulting in this dark day that will cause harm to Hoosier women until we overturn it.”