The state of Indiana has appealed a judge’s order that blocked the state’s abortion ban from being enforced. Indiana is seeking a stay of that order and is asking the state’s high court to take up the case.
The appeal was filed Thursday night with the Indiana Court of Appeals by Indiana Solicitor General Thomas Fisher and the state attorney general’s office. It says the court “should stay the trial court’s preliminary injunction pending appeal, and at the very least, should issue a temporary stay while this motion is briefed.”
It was submitted hours after Owen County Judge Kelsey Hanlon issued a preliminary injunction against the abortion ban, putting the new law on hold as abortion clinic operators argue in a lawsuit that it violates the state constitution.
In a separate motion, the state asked the Indiana Supreme Court to accept an emergency transfer of its appeal of the preliminary injunction.
“Only this Court can provide the final word on this hotly contested, high-profile, pure question of law that is of grave importance to the General Assembly and the citizens of Indiana,” that motion states.
The appeal comes as Indiana abortion clinics were preparing to see patients again on Friday.