South Bend abortion clinic closes, drops out of legal challenge to Indiana's near-total ban

Jordan Smith, South Bend Tribune
Updated ·2 min read
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SOUTH BEND — The only abortion clinic in the Michiana area has closed amid a legal dispute over Indiana's near-total ban on the procedure.

Whole Woman's Health Alliance, the nonprofit that managed the clinic in South Bend, said it will no longer provide abortions. Clinic leaders blame the closure on years of "politically driven" abortion restrictions, which culminated in a new state law that bans the procedure in almost all cases.

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"We are devastated to mark the end of our physical presence in South Bend," Amy Hagstrom Miller, WWHA president, said in a Monday press release. "This journey started over seven years ago when we were asked by this community to open a clinic that could meet people’s need for compassionate, high-quality abortion care.

“Even while navigating relentless attacks on our staff, medical providers, and clinic building," Hagstrom Miller added, "we were still able to serve over 1,100 patients for medication abortion care in our small but mighty South Bend clinic."

After joining a lawsuit challenging Indiana's near-total abortion ban last fall, WWHA had said it would begin to offer services again.

The state's new abortion law was signed by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb on Aug. 5 and set to take effect on Sept. 15. The statute bans abortions except in cases of rape, incest, fatal fetal anomalies or when the pregnant person's life is at risk.

But the ban was put on hold in late September by a judge who, ruling in response to the lawsuit, doubted whether the strict new law adhered to the Indiana Constitution. The judge's injunction meant that abortion providers could temporarily resume services. As it stands, abortions are allowed in Indiana.

On Monday, WWHA filed a motion to dismiss its lawsuit. The legal challenge is ongoing, however, and is led by a regional Planned Parenthood organization.

Whole Woman's Health of South Bend opened its doors in June 2019. In 2021, Whole Woman's Health performed 355 medication-induced abortions.

To open, the clinic overcame a struggle against the Indiana State Department of Health, which denied WWHA's application for a license to perform abortions. A judge later criticized the health department's decision and granted the clinic the right to operate.

Nearly three years after the clinic opened, its future seemed doomed when the U.S. Supreme Court voted to strike down Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that guaranteed the right to an abortion. The decision left abortion access up to each state.

WWHA said staff will still answer phone calls from patients seeking abortion care and refer them to nearby providers. A Planned Parenthood in Merrillville is the closest abortion clinic in Indiana. Clinics in Kalamazoo and Chicago are roughly a 90-minute drive from South Bend.

Email South Bend Tribune city reporter Jordan Smith at JTsmith@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jordantsmith09

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Whole Woman's Health abortion clinic closes amid lawsuit