Members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana v. Planned Parenthood Great Northwest
Plaintiffs claim that abortion ban violates the state constitution’s 1) substantive due process right to privacy included in the inherent rights clause (Art. I, § 1), 2) guarantee of equal privileges and immunities (Art. I, § 23), and 3) due course of law clause through its unconstitutionally vague language (Art. I, § 12). A trial court preliminarily blocked the ban. After keeping the injunction temporarily in place while it heard an appeal, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled on the merits of whether the Indiana Constitution protects a right to abortion and vacated the trial court’s preliminary injunction. According to the court, the state constitution’s due process right to privacy (Art. I, § 1) does not protect the right to abortion except when necessary to protect the patient’s life or to protect a patient from a serious health risk. Though the court acknowledged that the plaintiffs had previously withdrawn their vagueness claim (Art. I, § 12), it declined to rule on their privileges and immunities claim (Art. I, § 23) since that claim was not part of the appeal.
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