Monroe County prosecutor will use discretion in abortion cases when state law passes

Monroe County's prosecutor says she will use the same legal discretion she does in other cases when deciding whether to prosecute people who violate whatever law the state establishes in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

Erika Oliphant said in a written statement prosecutors generally consider "whether non-prosecution would assist in achieving other legitimate goals, whether prosecution would cause undue hardship to the accused, whether the alleged crime represents a substantial departure from the accused’s history of living a law-abiding life, or whether the accused has already suffered a substantial loss in connection with the alleged crime."

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State law, she said, "does provide specific means to withhold prosecution in certain criminal cases and these provisions are used extensively in Monroe County."

Soon after the ruling striking down Roe v Wade, the 1973 case legalizing abortion in the United States, Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears announced he won't file charges in cases involving abortion.

Oliphant said she is pro-abortion rights and saddened and disappointed in the Supreme Court ruling "because it will most certainly threaten the safety of women."

She pleaded with legislators "to ensure safe, legal, and accessible abortions as an important piece of comprehensive healthcare for women and families. Criminalizing abortion does not end abortion."

She said demands by Fourth of July protester that she join Mears in not prosecuting anyone for violating a law not likely to be established until later this month didn't change her stance regarding her prosecutorial position.

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Her statement "addresses my reasons for respectfully disagreeing with the position of the protestors, though I certainly identify with how they feel about the Dobbs decision."

She said she cannot "legally or ethically proclaim a blanket refusal to prosecute a particular crime because that is, in essence, passing legislation."

Oliphant said she fears that refusing to prosecute whatever law Indiana imposes will increase the chance the General Assembly will pass sanctions, and "may renew legislators’ interest in a non-compliant prosecutor bill."

That, she said, "would allow the Indiana attorney general to step in and prosecute cases when a local prosecutor has declined to do so."

Contact reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com, 812-331-4362 or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Monroe County prosecutor will use discretion in abortion cases