INDIANAPOLIS — Pregnant Indiana teenagers would be required to obtain explicit parental consent to have an abortion under legislation approved 36-13 Tuesday by the Republican-controlled Senate.
Senate Bill 404, which now goes to the Republican-controlled House, effectively gives the parents of a pregnant teenager under the age of 18 a veto over her abortion decision — even if the teen takes advantage of the judicial bypass alternative to parental consent.
It's the second anti-abortion proposal to advance at the Statehouse this week. House Bill 1128, which passed 53-41 Monday, would mandate doctors tell women obtaining a pill-induced abortion that the procedure possibly can be "reversed," despite no scientific evidence that is accurate.
State Sen. Erin Houchin, R-Salem, said her goal as sponsor of the Senate measure was to preserve parental rights over a pregnant daughter and ensure the girl is not exploiting loopholes in current law that Houchin claimed have allowed teens to get abortions without their parents knowing.
"When we're speaking of abortions under these circumstances these are not women seeking abortions — they are children seeking abortions," Houchin said.
State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago, warned that making it more difficult for teenage minors to obtain a safe and legal abortion, especially those impregnated due to incest or rape by a family member, inevitably will result in girls pursuing dangerous, unregulated abortion options.
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, said giving the parents of a pregnant girl any role in the judicial bypass process negates the purpose of the parental abortion consent alternative that's been on the books in Indiana since 1982.
It's also likely to be ruled unconstitutional, Tallian said.
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