Ruling: Privacy Rights Extend To Those Seeking Abortion

INDIANAPOLIS -- The right to privacy is a core value embodied in the Indiana Constitution that extends to all state residents, including women seeking to have an abortion, the state Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

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But the appeals court did not rule on the constitutionality of a state law that requires women seeking an abortion to receive in-person counseling about the medical risks and alternatives to abortion and then wait at least 18 hours before the procedure is performed. (Survey: 18-Hour Wait For Abortions?)

Instead, the court ordered a Marion County judge to hold an evidentiary hearing to determine whether the law imposes a "material burden" on the core constitutional value of privacy.

One judge on the three-member appeals panel said the abortion law was discriminatory and "not rationally related to a state goal," and he would have struck it down without sending the case back to a lower court.

Ken Falk, of the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, praised the privacy ruling.

"I think this is one of the first cases to recognize that the Indiana Constitution does contain this fundamental right to privacy. There are other cases which have said that, but in the modern era, I think this case is applying it for the first time in the abortion context," Falk said.