Indiana’s near-total abortion ban has survived a key legal challenge with the state Supreme Court rejecting a request that it take up the case.
The state’s highest court, in a 4-1 order issued Thursday, decided to let stand lower court rulings that upheld the constitutionality of the abortion restrictions approved by the Republican-dominated Legislature in 2022.
Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers argued in the challenge that the ban’s health exceptions allowing abortions were too narrow to comply with state constitution’s life and liberty protections.
ACLU says decision ends this challenge
Republican Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, whose office has defended the abortion ban in court, touted the Supreme Court’s order as “a decisive WIN for the people of Indiana and the unborn!”
“Thanks to this decision, our protections for life remain constitutional and will be enforced,” Rokita said in a social media post. “Like we’ve said before, no matter how many times Planned Parenthood tries to sue and push forward their culture of death, we will continue fighting for mothers, fathers, and the unborn.”
A separate lawsuit centered on whether the abortion ban violates Indiana’s religious freedom law is ongoing, with the state Supreme Court scheduled to hear oral arguments on Sept. 10.
In that case, a Marion County judge issued a permanent injunction blocking enforcement of the ban for a select group of Hoosiers with religious objections to the prohibition.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana has represented the abortion providers in the lawsuit. It described the court’s decision as “bringing this case to a close.”
“We’re deeply disappointed,” the organization said. “This law puts pregnant people’s health on the line, but we’re not done fighting.”
Planned Parenthood’s Indiana affiliate did not immediately comment Friday.
Indiana’s law bans abortions at any stage except in cases of rape or incest, to protect the life and health of the mother or a fatal fetal anomaly — though each with varying time limits. The law also revoked the licenses of all abortion clinics in the state and required that doctors perform the procedure at a hospital.
Justices don’t explain decision
The state Supreme Court did not hear oral arguments in the lawsuit before deciding to leave in place an August 2025 Court of Appeals ruling which rejected arguments that the abortion ban was too restrictive.
The one-page Supreme Court order said that the justices had reviewed the Court of Appeals ruling and all the legal briefs submitted in the case. The justices, however, did not give any explanation for their decision.
Chief Justice Loretta Rush and Justices Mark Massa, Derek Molter and Geoffrey Slaughter voted to let the lower court decision stand, according to the order.
Justice Christopher Goff, who voted to take up the appeal, also dissented from the court’s 2023 ruling that let the abortion ban take effect. Goff faulted the ban’s exceptions for not covering psychological or emotional conditions, including instances in which a woman shows signs that she intends to hurt herself.
Rush sided with the majority despite writing in 2023 that Indiana’s Constitution grants a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy “to protect her life or to protect her from a serious health risk … under circumstances that extend beyond the current law.”
The appeals court ruling found that the abortion ban’s “reasonable medical judgment” standard for the exceptions was constitutional.
“Those circumstances are medical circumstances and determining whether they exist requires a reasonable medical judgment,” the August decision said. “The statutory Life or Health Exception thus does not impose a material burden on the constitutional right to an abortion at all as both the constitutional right and the statutory exception require a reasonable medical judgment.”
The number of abortions performed in Indiana has dropped by 99% from 9,529 in 2022 to 126 during 2025, according to state Department of Health reports. Doctors reported fatal fetal anomaly or serious health risks to the mother as the reasons for more than 90% of abortions during 2025.
Indiana Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Indiana Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Niki Kelly for questions: info@indianacapitalchronicle.com.
