Indiana limits abortion options

By Megan Finnerty
Features Editor

Today is a day of celebration and awareness for many pro-choice groups across America, but at the Lafayette Right to Life clinic, it is a day of sadness.

"This is a day of mourning," said Terry Wykoff of Right to Life. "More than 48 million babies have been killed in the last 28 years. We mourn for the babies and we mourn with the mothers who are grieving for the child they never had."

This is the 28th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision making abortion legal in the United States in the case of Roe v. Wade, based on the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of the right to privacy. This ruling reduced deadly pilgrimages to back-alley abortionists and started a political debate that still divides the country down political, religious, economic and social lines.

So, 28 years later, after so much ink and blood has been spilled on both sides of the argument, what is the state of abortion in Indiana?

First, there is the question of access.

According to Dinah Farrington of Planned Parenthood of Greater Indiana, public abortion clinics exists in only four counties in the state: St. Joseph, Allen, Monroe and Lake, which has two clinics. Three of the five clinics belong to Planned Parenthood.

According to Planned Parenthood officials, information as to how many private doctors offer abortion services could not be found in part because many private doctors do not advertise such services.

Betty Memmer of Lafayette’s Planned Parenthood has counseled pregnant women about their options and rights for 11 years and said her organization keeps files on area adoption, prenatal care and abortion services. But she said no one has been listed in the abortion provider file for years.

She also said Lafayette’s Planned Parenthood is not aware of any area doctors who prescribe RU-486, the abortion pill.

Sylvia Johnson, also of Planned Parenthood of Greater Indiana, said, "Abortion access in Indiana is very limited. It’s limited to just a few counties. When a woman has decided to terminate a pregnancy, it’s important that she has access to a safe, legal abortionist. Because, without that, she will try to abort the baby herself or seek a back-alley abortionist."

Only first and second trimester abortions are legal in Indiana, according to Johnson, which cost an average of $300 at public clinics.

Medicaid, government assistance for the health needs of the poor, will not cover abortion costs unless the fetus was conceived through rape or incest or if the pregnancy endangers the mother’s life.

William McLauchlan, a political science professor and expert on constitutional law, said that by limiting where money comes from to pay for abortions, access is limited to how much money a woman has.

Dana Mason, an associate professor in the School of Health Science, has been working with reproductive issues for 25 years and said she disagrees with limiting access to abortion.

"These amendments are a loss of autonomy," she said. "And it’s unfair that if a person has enough money, they can get an abortion, but if a person doesn’t, they can’t. And if a woman cannot get it done, she will go to someone who will do it, and maybe end up in the hospital."

Saturday, George W. Bush, who is pro-life, was inaugurated as the nation’s 43rd president after campaigning heavily in favor of limiting or ending abortion in the United States. Members of pro-life organizations viewed Saturday as a day of victory and as a step toward the end of abortion.

Wykoff said members of her pro-life organization are excited about Bush’s presidency because they feel he will be able to appoint several pro-life Supreme Court justices.

"We feel there will be two seats vacated, and that he will fill them with pro-life justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade," she said. "The best chance we have for making abortion illegal is through the Supreme Court. Bush will sign into law any pro-life legislation that comes from Congress, so that’s a great reason to have a pro-life president."

McLauchlan said Roe v. Wade is not unconstitutional and that Bush, or any other president, has little power over the availability of abortions.

When he was in office, Bush’s father, former president George Bush, used his executive power to keep doctors working at government-funded clinics from informing patients about abortion. The order didn’t limit the actual availability of abortions, but it limited the right of doctors to provide information about them. Former president Bill Clinton revoked the order on the basis of the First Amendment.

McLauchlan said, "Bush has two options — have Congress pass some kind of law limiting abortion or, he can use his executive order like his father did."

McLauchlan couldn’t speculate on when and if Bush will appoint new Supreme Court justices.

Another issue surrounding abortion is whether or not the people discussing it are talking about the same things. Pro-choice organizations frame abortion in terms of rights and choices, freedom and privacy. Pro-life organizations frame abortion in terms of religion and morals, life and death.

Because the two groups are not arguing over the same issues, Nancy Gabin, a professor of history, sees the debate continuing long into the future.

"This fight has been going on since the beginning of the 19th century, and there are many reasons," she said. "One is gender equality; our constitution guarantees equal treatment, but men don’t get pregnant, so there is no equality here. The other issues are religious and moral ones. And part of this is just the human condition."

She said abortion is such a contentious issue because it involves public policy and governmental intervention.

"I’ve seen this as a teacher and I’ve seen this as a young adult who was very interested in it in 1973 when it came out," she said. "In America, you never discuss politics or religion, but that is exactly what this argument is about."

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