A Republican lawmaker has filed a bill to make abortion illegal in Indiana, saying if it became law, it could ultimately be a vehicle to get the U.S. Supreme Court with new members to overturn abortion rights.
But Gov. Mitch Daniels said Thursday that his sense was “it would have a very limited prospect of ultimate success.”
The bill by Rep. Troy Woodruff of Vincennes would change Indiana’s feticide law to make it a Class C felony, punishable with a two- to eight-year prison sentence, to perform an abortion. The only exception would be when carrying a pregnancy to term would pose a “substantial permanent impairment of the life or physical health of the pregnant woman.”
Woodruff said he filed the bill Wednesday in part because there will be a new U.S. Supreme Court and a state must pass a law and then appeal it to the highest court to see if the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling would stand.
“Also the people have never had an opportunity (through their lawmakers) to vote on the matter,” Woodruff said…
Daniels said he was a “supporter of the right to live.” But he questioned whether it have any prospect of success and whether any time and money spent on it would lead anywhere.
“Ultimately for this to change, I think, first the heart of the country and maybe ultimately the view the courts take of states’ rights to place some limits would have to evolve,” Daniels said.