<p>INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana’s Republican-dominated Legislature on Tuesday voted to advance a bill that tightens state abortion laws <a href="https://apnews.com/article/legislature-medication-abortion-indiana-bills-853a2aa23a2ae64c876152de3c5cde6c">despite objections</a> that it would force doctors to provide dubious information to their patients.</p>
<p>The measure requires Indiana doctors to tell women undergoing drug-induced abortions about a disputed treatment that could <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gun-politics-indiana-bills-abortion-8c6eb5708ae81e98bc08cab3de36bce8">stop the abortion process,</a> and bans chemical abortions ordered via telemedicine.</p>
<p>The bill also includes a requirement for notarization of a parent’s signature allowing abortion for women younger than 18 years old.</p>
<p>The Indiana Senate, which has a strong anti-abortion majority that has supported numerous restrictions in recent years, voted Tuesday to advance the <a href="http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2021/bills/house/1577">proposal.</a> The bill now heads back to the House for final approval.</p>
<p>Supporters argue the bill ensures that women who change their minds after taking the first of the two drugs for a medication abortion are provided with information about stopping the process by taking a different drug.</p>
<p>Medical groups say the abortion pill “reversal” process is not backed up by science and that there is little information about its safety.</p>
<p>“I believe we are beginning to slide down a slope that is dangerously leading us to a place where what we do here in this Legislature as it relates to women and women’s health options will no longer be reliable and perceived as objective-based, on reasonable facts and information,” said Democratic Sen. Jean Breaux of Indianapolis. “At its core, this is simply another politically motivated attempt to restrict access to a safe, legal abortion.”</p>
<p>Six states already have similar requirements in place, while laws in three other states — North Dakota, Oklahoma and Tennessee — have been blocked by legal challenges, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a research group that supports abortion rights.</p>
<p>Medication abortions accounted for 44% of the roughly 7,600 abortions performed in Indiana during 2019, according to the state health department’s most recent statistics.</p>
<p>“You want to talk about junk science? Talk to the women who regretted the first pill … you don’t want them to know there’s an option?” said bill sponsor Republican Sen. Liz Brown, of Fort Wayne. “All this is saying — before you take that second set of pills and if you’re having a change of thought — we’re going to give you all the information. You have a right to know.” </p>
