Senate lawmakers Tuesday approved a wide-ranging abortion bill, which includes provisions on disposing of aborted fetuses and a ban on certain abortions. But the bill's ultimate fate is uncertain.
Earlier this session, the Senate passed a bill banning women from having an abortion because of the fetus' race, gender or disability. But the House wouldn't hear the bill, so Senate lawmakers added it to another abortion bill, one that outlaws the disposal of aborted remains as medical waste. Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, says the issues are related.
"All people have value; all lives should be worth something," Brown says.
But Sen. Vaneta Becker, R-Evansville, says if that were the real motivation behind the bill, its supporters would back more resources for Hoosiers with disabilities.
"This particular bill doesn't really value life, it just values birth," Becker says.
The Senate approved the bill 37-13, sending it back to the House. Speaker Brian Bosma says the Senate's circumvention of the House in adding one abortion bill to another presents a difficulty.
"Hasn't happened so much in recent years, successfully," Bosma says. "We'll see. We have a lot of time left to try to sort through these issues."
The legislature plans to end its session next Thursday.