Planned Parenthood Applauds Seventh Circuit ruling on Dangerous Abortion Restriction
Contact: Katie Rogers, Communications Director, 206-328-7705; [email protected]
For Immediate Release: Aug. 27, 2019 (Updated: Aug. 27, 2019, 10:49 p.m.)
INDIANAPOLIS – Tonight, Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky (PPINK) applauds the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit for blocking Senate Enrolled Act (SEA) 404, which would have required a dangerous parental notification requirement. SEA 404 would force a minor to notify one parent of a judicial bypass request, even if a court determined the minor was mature enough to decide on her own to have an abortion. The only way around it would be if a judge determined doing so would go against the best interests of the minor. The Seventh Circuit upheld a lower court ruling striking down SEA 404 as unconstitutional.
“We are pleased to see the Seventh Circuit agree with the lower court’s ruling that SEA 404 places an undue burden on young people seeking abortion care,” said Chris Charbonneau, CEO of PPINK. “At Planned Parenthood, we encourage young people to have open and honest conversations with their families, but not everyone is able to do so safely. All Hoosiers, regardless of age, should be able to access the full range of reproductive health care when they need it, including abortion care, and deserve to make personal medical decisions without the fear of politicians sharing or shaming their private decisions.”
Under SEA 404’s provisions, a judge who grants a judicial bypass for a pregnant minor would be able to alert a parent that the teen is pregnant and seeking an abortion. Physicians would be responsible for obtaining and verifying identifying documents from parents who provide consent for a teen’s abortion. In addition to stripping the right to privacy away from Hoosiers, the law would have also blocked medical providers informing teenage patients of their abortion options in other states.
PPINK, with the assistance of the ACLU of Indiana, filed a lawsuit against SEA 404 on May 18, 2017. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana’s Judge Sara Evans Barker entered a preliminary injunction on June 28, 2017.