Indiana activist talks about bill requiring rape victims to sign affidavit to get abortion
Our Choice Coalition Co-founder Liane Groth Hulka spoke to me about the antiabortion movement as well as what they're trying to do to overcome it.
Indiana recently was in the news after a lawmaker introduced a bill to require a rape victim to sign an affidavit attesting that an unwanted pregnancy stemmed from the crime if she wanted to get an abortion.
After reading the news, I reached out to Our Choice Coalition, a grassroots pro-choice organization in the state that has focused on resisting antiabortion laws and building a successful campaign to flip its state legislature. Its co-founder, Liane Groth Hulka, spoke to me over the phone about that bill and other things that may have missed national attention.
“It's kind of a runaround to eliminate the exceptions,” Hulka said.
For many rape victims, they may be in a consensual sexual relationship with someone. The rape may have happened within that relationship, or it may have occurred outside of it. With this law, the victim would have to get legal advice on whether it would be prudent to seek the abortion if perjury charges were on the table.
“Let's say somebody is sexually active, and maybe they had two partners in the last two (weeks),” Hulka said. “You need an attorney now to advise you whether to sign this or not.”
Indiana is one of 24 states that do not have a ballot referendum process. If abortion were to be decriminalized, it would have to be through a law passed by its state legislature and signed into effect by a governor. It would then have to be interpreted by a state supreme court with judges appointed by governors for a lifetime tenure.
Of all the states I’ve seen, this seems to be the hardest to succeed in, with Mississippi, Idaho, and Alabama coming very close. It’s not because people don’t support legal abortion access. According to a poll Our Choice put out, 64 percent of Hoosiers believe that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Instead, it’s because of the extensive gerrymandering that has plagued that state as it has other areas of the country. The best idea to remediate this situation is to pass federal legislation that makes it illegal to gerrymander or impose strict criteria on legislative redistricting to prevent political self-interest from being the chief criterion in the layout developed after a census is taken. If activists in Indiana were given a fair shot to flip seats, then it’s possible that a bill could pass if they also had the governor’s mansion. But they need help to do that.
Another trouble is the lack of reliable news sources in much of the state. Few state legislature reporters relay their representative’s behaviors and bills back to voters. So, it’s easy for an officeholder to misrepresent what they’re doing.
An example of that may be State Rep. Jim Lucas’ ostensible attempt to expand birth control access to low-income people in House Bill 1169. Hulka expects amendments to his proposed bill that will remove IUDs as a long-acting contraceptive.
“It’s a Trojan horse bill,” Hulka said.
Hulka suspects that the ultimate mastermind behind most of the antiabortion effort is Attorney General Todd Rokita, who would see his power increase if more investigative power were put in prosecutors' hands to go after abortion providers, funds, and seekers.
“It's his number one issue,” Hulka said. “And he continues to cause problems for healthcare providers.”