Local lawmakers opine on abortion ban exemptions, family help before special session

SOUTH BEND — During a third day of protest in downtown South Bend, local Democrats rallied against the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last week to overturn Roe v. Wade and send authority of abortion rights legislation back to state lawmakers.

The planned rally came just as Indiana House Republicans announced Wednesday afternoon that a special session to consider abortion rights and taxpayer refunds will be pushed back to late July.

"We need to leave it be and keep the law as it currently is in Indiana," Democratic State Rep. Maureen Bauer said at the Wednesday rally. "There's no need to further restrict abortion access. The current law is incredibly conservative."

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Earlier this month, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb called a special session to begin July 6 for discussion of sending a collective $1 billion back to Hoosiers taxpayers amid rising inflation. After the Supreme Court issued its decision Friday morning, however, the governor added that he expected abortion would also be addressed during the coming special session.

"In light of the historic Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, legislative leaders are anticipating a multi-week special session versus one or two days," Erin Wittern, spokesperson for the Indiana House Republicans, said in a statement to IndyStar. "Due to this extended session and to minimize logistical issues, leaders worked with the governor to push the start date to July 25."

Bauer said she thinks the delay was called to give Indiana Republicans more time to draft legislation and decide whether exemptions for rape and incest should be included in any proposals to ban abortion procedures across the state.

"My understanding — they believe that women will inflate the number of rape and incest in order to get an abortion," Bauer said. "Not only do they not trust women to make their own health care decisions, but they believe they will lie in order to get an abortion."

Republican State Rep. Jake Teshka told The Tribune earlier this week that he expects state lawmakers will pursue a bill that bans elective abortion procedures with exceptions for rape, incest and the endangerment of a person's life during their pregnancy.

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He also said lawmakers are likely to consider legislation that would provide resources — like extending child support through pregnancy and reductions in adoption costs — using money from the state's $6 billion in cash reserves.

"Moving forward, the overall revenue forecast looks really good," Teshka said on Monday. "There's room in the budget to do some of these things to help others through this time."

Though opposed to abortion bans, Bauer said she agrees more state support should be directed toward pregnant and expecting families. Bauer brought a bill last session to codify parental leave extended to state employees through a recent executive order. She said she would also like to see other supports, such as an increased minimum wage, a higher subsidy for adoptive parents and a greater investment in tax credits for families.

"If we're going to be a state that mandates birth, who's going to pay for that hospital bill?" Bauer said. "We're looking at true investments for families."

Email South Bend Tribune education reporter Carley Lanich at clanich@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter: @carleylanich.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Exemptions a point of debate in likely Indiana abortion ban