By Dave Andrusko

Judge Tanya Walton Pratt
Journal Gazette reporter Niki Kelly began her story this way: “INDIANAPOLIS – It’s beginning to be like clockwork – a new abortion law followed by a lawsuit.” As so it is. No matter how much commonsense a pro-life law makes, PPFA and/or the ACLU will sue.
The latest example came Thursday when Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky and the American Civil Liberties Union teamed up to sue to block Indiana’s new protective law, SEA 404.
As NRL News Today reported previously, SEA 404 (signed into law April 25 by Gov. Eric Holcomb) is scheduled to go into effect July 1. “If this law is allowed to go into effect, it will have a chilling effect on teenagers already dealing with a difficult situation,” said Betty Cockrum, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky.
But SEA 404 protects minor girls, increases parental rights when a minor girl seeks abortion, and helps victims of sex trafficking, according to Indiana Right to Life.
SEA 404 protects young girls by changing abortion reporting requirements. Currently the abortionist must send the required form to both the Indiana State Department of Health and the Department of Child Services if the minor is 14 or younger. SB404 raises the age for the reporting requirement to under 16 years of age.
The law increases parental rights by providing civil recourse if a parent or guardian discovers someone fraudulently posed as them to help their minor daughter get an abortion. In addition, merely saying one is a parent (or making a phone call) no longer suffices. An adult claiming to be the parent or guardian of a minor must provide government issued proof of identification and written documentation.

Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill
Judges who give a minor permission for an abortion will now notify the child’s parents, unless the judge has a valid reason to forgo notification.
Finally, SEA 404 assists victims of sex trafficking and those being coerced into an abortion by providing help information.
As Kelly noted in her story, the same judge [unnamed in the story, it’s Judge Tanya Pratt] who will hear the request for a preliminary injunction granted an injunction on March 31 against the ultrasound requirement in the “Dignity for the Unborn law” [HEA 1337]. That requires that the ultrasound be done at least 18-hours before the abortion. Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill has already begun the process of appealing that ruling.
“This law [SEA 404] highlights the important role that parents have in the health of their young daughter,” said Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. “Planned Parenthood claims abortion is a ‘women’s right,’ but this rhetoric forgets we’re talking about young, minor girls. An abortion is not a trivial health decision to be made lightly. Parents deserve to be involved and informed.”