SB 340 also sets stage for expanding “safe haven baby boxes”
By Dave Andrusko
On Wednesday the Indiana legislature sent SB 340 to Gov. Eric Holcomb, a multi-faceted bill requiring the reporting of abortion complications that injure women while creating tougher requirements for abortion businesses applying for licensing in Indiana.
“The bill also sets the stage for expansion of safe haven baby boxes at fire stations in Indiana to help save newborn babies at risk of abandonment,” according to Indiana Right to Life.
Pro-abortionists, the ones who always tell us they are “concerned about women,” predictably opposed the bill. “It’s couched (like it’s) about public safety, when all it is is a way of shaming and stigmatizing women,” pro-abortion Sen. Jean Breaux (D) complained to the Associated Press.
In fact SB 340 is all about requiring physicians, hospitals or abortion clinics to report when a woman is injured by an abortion and ensuring that she is not been coerced. Indiana Right to Life explained how detailed the reporting requirements are:
Complications required to be reported include uterine perforation, cervical perforation, infection, hemorrhaging, respiratory arrest, shock, or incidents in which parts of an aborted baby are left within the woman. The report must also include any indication that the woman treated was seeking an abortion as a result of abuse, coercion, harassment or trafficking.
The AP’s Brian Slodysko reported on another component which again is about patient safety. It
requires any abortion clinic be inspected at least once a year, with further inspections allowed if a complaint is made. Clinics must also report if any employee has been convicted of a felony, or if any owner or staff member worked at another abortion clinic closed “as a result of administrative or legal action.”
Indiana Right to Life President and CEO Mike Fichter, said, “The days of abortion businesses hiding injuries to women, or looking the other way when women are coerced into abortion, will hopefully come to an end with this important bill.”
Fichter also congratulated the legislature for opening the way for greater expansion of safe haven baby boxes in Indiana.
“The inclusion of safe haven baby boxes in this bill will be key to saving the lives of babies who might otherwise be at-risk of dying as a result of abandonment,” he said. “We are thankful for those who took the lead on this issue years ago and have steadfastly moved this idea forward.”