A bill that would completely outlaw abortions in Indiana is likely dead for the legislative session after a committee chair decided not to hear it.
The bill had been assigned to the House Committee on Public Policy, but Rep. Ben Smaltz, R-Auburn, released a statement last week saying he would not allow the bill a public hearing.
“I understand Hoosiers have strongly-held beliefs on both sides of the issue, and I have deep philosophical concerns with government requiring women to carry their pregnancies to term in cases of rape, incest and especially when the mother’s life is in danger,” Smaltz said in a statement released to the Indiana Daily Student.
House Bill 1134, authored by Rep. Curt Nisly, R-Goshen, would allow discretion of how to charge criminally someone who performs an abortion to a county prosecutor. It met with strong opposition from Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky and other opposition groups. The bill likely would have been ruled unconstitutional due to its contradiction of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that established a woman’s right to an abortion.
Smaltz addressed this fact in his statement as well.
“Due to strong constitutionality concerns as well as the likely legal effect of setting the pro-life movement back, I don’t believe it’s the right time to move forward on this issue,” Smaltz said.
Smaltz said in the statement that he’s voted for every pro-life bill that’s passed through the Indiana House since he took office in 2012.
Nisly told the IndyStar that he didn’t see Smaltz’s decision as a done deal. He did not release a statement after Smaltz’s announcement or respond to Indiana Daily Student requests for comment Monday.
Alexa Chryssovergis
