- Hours after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, abortion bans and restrictions went into effect in states across the country.
- A ban on abortions after six weeks took effect in Ohio, for example, and providers in Kentucky shut their doors due to the state’s “trigger law” banning abortions.
- Many pregnant people seeking abortions in these states turned to clinics in Indiana, where abortion remains legal for now. But providers warn of an uncertain future.
INDIANAPOLIS – On Monday, three days after the Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, took a call from a colleague, a child abuse doctor in Ohio.
hours after the Supreme Court action, Ohio had outlawed any abortion after six weeks. Now, this doctor had a 10-year-old patient in the office who was six weeks and three days pregnant.
Could Bernard help?
Indiana lawmakers are poised to further restrict or ban abortion in mere weeks. the Indiana General Assembly will convene in a special session July 25 when it will discuss restrictions to abortion policy.
But for now, the procedure is still legal in the state. And so the 10-year-old girl was soon on her way to Indiana to Bernard’s care of her.
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Indiana abortion laws unchanged, but effect still felt across state
The 10-year-old isn’t alone. As abortion bans take effect across the country, more and more pregnant people are crossing state lines in hopes of getting the care they need.
But even in some states where abortion remains legal for now, many fear that further restrictions or bans could trickle down in the future.
While Indiana law did not change last week when the Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking Dobbs decision, abortion providers here have felt an effect, experiencing a dramatic increase in the number of patients coming to their clinics from neighboring states with more restrictive policies.
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Since Friday, the abortion clinics where Dr. Katie McHugh, an independent obstetrician-gynecologists works have seen “an insane amount of requests” from pregnant people in Kentucky and Ohio, where it is far more difficult to get an abortion.
A ban on abortions after six weeks took effect on Friday in Ohio. Last Friday the two abortion providers in Kentucky shut their doors after that state’s trigger law banning abortions went into effect.
Indiana could soon have similar restrictions. That pains doctors like Bernard.
“It’s hard to imagine that in just a few short weeks we will have no ability to provide that care,” Bernard said.
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For now, Indiana abortion providers have been fielding more calls from neighboring states. Typically about five to eight patients a day might have hailed from out of state, said McHugh, who works at multiple clinics in central and southern Indiana. Now, the clinics are seeing about 20 such patients a day.
Kentucky patients have been coming to Indiana in higher numbers since earlier this spring when more restrictive laws took effect there, McHugh said.
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Indianapolis abortion clinics seeing surge in patients from Ohio, Kentucky
A similar dynamic is at play at Women’s Med, a medical center that performs abortions in Indianapolis that has a sister center in Dayton, Ohio. In the past week, they have doubled the number of patients they treat for a complete procedure, accepting many referrals from their Ohio counterpart.
More than 100 patients in Dayton had to be scheduled at the Indianapolis facility, a representative for Women’s Med, wrote in an email to IndyStar.
Women and pregnant people are “crying, distraught, desperate, thankful and appreciative,” the representative wrote.
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The two centers are working together to route patients to Indianapolis for a termination after a pre-op appointment in Dayton. In recent months, they have also had people from southern states, like Texas, come north for a procedure.
Many patients, particularly from Ohio and Kentucky, are seeking care through Women’s Med while also making multiple appointments in other states so if one state closes down, they will still have some options, the representative wrote.
The center is advising pregnant people with a positive pregnancy test to book an appointment even though prior to the Supreme Court ruling they asked people to wait until their six-week mark to do so.
People have traversed state lines for abortions for years, particularly if a clinic across the border is closer to their home than the nearest in-state facility.
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In 2021, 465, or about 5.5%, of the more than 8,400 abortions performed in Indiana were done on out-of-state residents, according to the Indiana Department of Health’s most recent terminated pregnancy report. More than half, 264, lived in Kentucky and 4 in Ohio.
Midwestern residents can also travel to Illinois, where abortion is likely to remain legal even in the wake of the recent Supreme Court ruling. But for many, Indiana is closer – and until the lawmakers pass any measure to the contrary, abortion will be legal in the state.
Still, it remains murky what the future holds.
A lower court ruled on Thursday that abortions could resume, at least for now, in Kentucky. On Wednesday abortion clinics in Ohio filed Suit, saying that state’s new ban was unconstitutional.
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In Indiana, lawmakers have declined to provide specifics of what measures any abortion legislation considered here might contain.
For now, abortion providers are doing their best to accommodate all patients – including those from neighboring states.
“We are doing the best we can to increase availability and access as long as we can, knowing that this will be a temporary time frame that we can offer that assistance,” McHugh said.
Follow Shari Rudavsky on Twitter: @srudavsky.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism