Planned Parenthood in Indiana says the state has been one of the strictest on abortion access, so they’re welcoming a favorable appeals court ruling this week relating to minors who seek abortions.
On Tuesday a U.S. 7th Circuit appeals court ruled that Planned Parenthood, which has a Mishawaka location, can continue counseling minors on how to obtain abortions in states where it’s still legal. The ruling makes permanent a lower court’s injunction against a 2017 Indiana law that sought to ban abortion providers from counseling minors on legal options elsewhere without parental consent.
Planned Parenthood of Indiana’s Colleen McDouglas says the Mishawaka center sends minors to Illinois and Michigan most often but also Ohio sometimes. She praised the ruling.
“This decision this week really reaffirms that we as health care providers are able to, we should, and we have an obligation to provide that information to minors,” McDouglas says.
The appeals court ruled that telling patients where abortion is still legal, minors included, is protected free speech under the Constitution’s First Amendment.
