House members advanced the near-total abortion ban 62-38 with limited exceptions, including in cases of rape and incest, and to protect the life and physical health of the mother.
Republican Rep. Wendy McNamara of Evansville, who sponsored the bill, told reporters after the vote that the legislation “makes Indiana one of the most pro-life states in the nation.”
Outside the House chamber, abortion-rights activists often chanted over lawmakers’ remarks, carrying signs like “Roe roe roe your vote” and “Build this wall” between church and state. Some House Democrats wore blazers over pink “Bans Off Our Bodies” T-shirts.
The proposal came after Kansas voters resoundingly rejected a measure that would have allowed the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature to tighten abortion in the first test of voters’ feelings about the issue since Roe was overturned.
Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston told reporters that if residents are unhappy, they can vote for new lawmakers.
“Ultimately it’s up to the Senate,” he said. “Voters have an opportunity to vote, and if they’re displeased, they’ll have an opportunity both in November and in future years.”
Indiana’s proposed ban also came after the political firestorm over a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled to the state from neighboring Ohio to end her pregnancy. The case gained attentionwhen an Indianapolis doctor said the child came to Indiana because of Ohio’s “fetal heartbeat” ban.
Democratic Rep. Maureen Bauer spoke tearfully before Friday’s vote about people in her South Bend district who oppose the bill — the husbands standing behind their wives, the fathers supporting their daughters — as well as the women “who are demanding that we are seen as equal.”
Bauer’s comments were followed by raucous cheers from protesters in the hallway and subdued applause from fellow Democrats.
“You may not have thought that these women would show up,” Bauer said. “Maybe you thought we wouldn’t be paying attention.”
West Virginia legislators on July 29 passed up the chance to be the first state with a unified ban after its House of Delegates refused to concur with Senate amendments that removed criminal penalties for physicians who perform illegal abortions. Delegates instead asked for a conference committee to consider the details between the bills.
The Indiana House vote further illustrated a deeply divided chamber, which formerly defeated an amendment that would have removed exceptions for rape and incest. Most GOP members wanted their removal, though ultimately most voted for the bill. The House vote and lawmakers’ discussions displayed a similar division seen in the Senate over those same exceptions.
Nine Republicans — including Rep. John Jacob, who had called for removing those exceptions — joined all 29 Democrats in voting against the bill.
“There is forgiveness for the sin of abortion,” Jacob said Friday.
Religion was a persistent theme during the special session, both in residents’ testimony and lawmakers’ comments.
In advocating against the bill, Rep. Ann Vermilion condemned her fellow Republicans calling women who obtained abortions “murderers.”
“I think that the Lord’s promise is for grace and kindness,” she said. “He would not be jumping to condemn these women.”