Indiana clinics must report complications from abortions says Court of Appeals

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on August 2 upheld an Indiana law requiring abortion providers to report complications arising from abortions carried out in their facilities, the Christian Post (CP) reports. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the case brought by Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky which argued Indiana’s Complications Statute of Senate Enrolled Act No. 340 was “unconstitutionally vague.”

Signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb in 2018, the Complications statute requires doctors to report “any adverse physical or psychological condition arising from the induction or performance of an abortion,” CP reports. The law also requires abortion facilities to be submitted for inspection annually. Planned Parenthood also argued against this provision.

The law list cites a list of 25 abortion complications that are required to be reported; the first ten complications cited are listed as follows:

(1) Uterine perforation.
(2) Cervical laceration.
(3) Infection.
(4) Vaginal bleeding that qualifies as a Grade 2 or higher adverse event according to the Common
Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE).
(5) Pulmonary embolism.
(6) Deep vein thrombosis.
(7) Failure to terminate the pregnancy.
(8) Incomplete abortion (retained tissue).
(9) Pelvic inflammatory disease.
(10) Missed ectopic pregnancy.

While the lower court found against Planned Parenthood in regard to the inspection issue, it had agreed with the plaintiffs that the complications statute is unconstitutionally vague. In last week’s ruling the Seventh Circuit Court reversed the lower court’s decision on the complications provision in a majority ruling led by Trump appointee Judge Amy St. Eve, CP said.

In a Twitter statement responding to the appeals court decision, Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita said: “Complications from abortion have been notoriously difficult to track, resulting in a skewed understanding of the danger abortion poses to women.”

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