GiaQuinta statement on House passage of abortion ban

INDIANAPOLIS – Just over a month after a landmark decision stripped away the constitutionally-protected right to abortion and reproductive autonomy, Indiana Republicans put our state on the map as the first legislature to act on abortion policy post-Roe. Today, the Indiana House of Representatives passed Senate Bill 1 (ss), which restricts freedoms and individual liberties from millions of Hoosiers. As the near-total abortion ban returns to the Senate for further consideration, House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta (D-Fort Wayne) offered the following statement: 

“Today, radical and out-of-touch conservatives in the House rammed through authoritarian legislation on the principles of forced birth and human suffering,” GiaQuinta said. “Day after day of difficult and emotional testimony from experts, survivors and women - none of which supported Senate Bill 1 - did not deter the GOP’s endless crusade to control women. 

“To the fearful Hoosiers who watched their elected representatives intervene in the most intimate and personal areas of their lives: I stand with you, and I stand against any policy that would further police or control your right to choose. 

“This has been one of the most emotionally challenging issues this legislative body has taken up since I joined the Indiana General Assembly. Like many Hoosiers yesterday, I watched in shock and horror as a majority of my colleagues across the aisle voted to completely strip the choice of rape and incest victims to reclaim bodily control and autonomy and as a significant number of them voted to strip exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies. 

“The fight to secure legal abortion access has only begun. It’s a dark day in Indiana but I believe that the will of the overwhelming majority of Hoosiers will ultimately prevail.”