Indiana Senate Democrats proposed four amendments to an abortion medication bill, but all of them failed in voice votes Monday.
Senate Bill 236, authored by State Sen. Tyler Johnson, R-Leo, that states a person who manufactures, distributes, mails, transports, delivers, prescribes or provides an abortion inducing drug is jointly and severally liable for the wrongful death of an unborn child or pregnant woman from using the drug and personal injury of an unborn child or pregnant woman from the use of the abortion inducing drug.
The bill also redefines abortion to be the “act of using or prescribing an instrument, a drug, a medicine, or any other substance, device or means with the intent to cause the death of an unborn child of a woman. The term does not include birth control devices or contraceptives. An act is not an abortion if the act is done with the intent to save the life or preserve the health of an unborn child; remove a dead, unborn child whose death was caused by miscarriage or stillbirth or remove an ectopic pregnancy.”
The bill would allow the mother or father of an unborn child to bring a wrongful death action for the wrongful death of the unborn child from the use of abortion inducing drugs.
Medication abortions accounted for more than 60% of abortions nationwide in 2023, the most recent year that data was available, according to the Guttmacher Institute. Patients in states with abortion bans can obtain medication — most commonly mifepristone and misoprostol — through shield law providers, who prescribe and mail them via a telehealth consultation. Bans on the mailing of drugs used to terminate a pregnancy are already in effect in Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas.
Further, the bill allows for qui tam actions, which means someone who suspects a woman had an abortion could file a lawsuit on behalf of the state. The bill states the person who brings the case could receive up to $100,000 for bringing the case and legal fees would be covered by the defendant.
On second reading Monday, Johnson filed an amendment to remove the portion of the bill that required Terminated Pregnancy Reports, including additional information about providers, to go to the Department of Health and the Attorney General’s Office.
State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton, proposed an amendment to change the definition of abortion back to the definition under current law. The new definition would “throw the medical field into confusion as to what guidelines we’re supposed to be following,” Pol said.
Johnson, who is a doctor, said he spoke to obstetricians and gynecologists with whom he works and determined that the bill’s definition of abortion “is meant to help.”
State Sen. Andrea Hunley, D-Indianapolis, filed two amendments to address immunity. First, immunity for women who received abortion medication from a state where abortion is legal and brought the second pill to their home in Indiana to take there.
The second amendment would provide immunity to close family members who help a woman obtain abortion medication.
The bill gives the pregnant woman immunity, Johnson said, and he wouldn’t want to give immunity to anyone else.
State Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, proposed an amendment to remove the qui tam actions because it would allow for “citizen’s arrest” if someone believes a woman had an abortion.
“If this conduct is illegal, then the state should enforce it through prosecutors and appropriate agencies. But not through private bounty-style litigation,” Yoder said.
Johnson said he views the qui tam portion of the bill as a “whistleblower” statute.
The bill moves forward for final vote by the Senate.
