Indiana’s Abortion Obsession
The principle that every person is a whole human being, deserving of dignity and respect should be an inalienable American right, not determined by the imaginary borders of the state that human being resides within.
In a truly heartbreaking story, “Ember Amber” and her partner Michael shared on Facebook their journey experiencing pregnancy loss in Indiana. An experience that no doubt would have been vastly different if they had resided just a few miles away in another state.
Around 20 weeks into her pregnancy, they received devastating news that their son, Arlo, had a fatal fetal abnormality. This diagnosis was confirmed by six different doctors at two Indiana hospitals. Not wanting their child to experience any suffering and possibly further complicate Amber’s health, they made the decision to end the pregnancy. Amber was required to fill out mounds of paperwork from the state that attempted to convince her over and over and over again to not end her pregnancy. She completed the terminated pregnancy report (TPR) that would be submitted to the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH). She also signed an acknowledgment that if her pregnancy ending procedure was ever determined to have been unnecessary, she could be charged with a crime.
On top of all of this suffering, Amber learned her health insurance would not be covering any portion of this procedure. Amber and her family will pay thousands of dollars to end her pregnancy, deliver, and then bury her son.
This story is all too common in states that have banned abortions. Women are berated and judged during one of the worst moments of their lives.
Following an executive order Indiana’s governor Mike Braun signed at the beginning of his new term, the TPR Amber, and other patients have completed, is now available via a public records request. This is a concerted effort by Braun, Attorney General, Todd Rokita, and emboldened anti-abortion activists to investigate abortion, patients and providers in an effort to be able to prosecute them.
The IDOH stopped releasing terminated pregnancy reports after Indiana’s total abortion band went into effect. Due to the small number of abortions being performed in the state of Indiana, the IDOH had major concerns about privacy. Attorney General Todd Rokita has been attempting to make these TPR’s public through the court system, but Braun’s executive order just gave Rokita a wonderful gift. Attorney General Rokita wants an army of anti-abortion zealots traveling around the state, and bringing back names and addresses to the Attorney General’s office.
This is a good time to remind us all that the vast majority of Hoosiers, around 80%, support access to abortion. Unfortunately, this is not reflected in the make up of the Indiana state legislature. Indiana, and many other red states, has been the victim of major spending by special interest groups who finance the campaigns of the most conservative, extreme, and religious Republican candidates. This has allowed the lawmakers in Indianapolis to be completely out of touch with the state they represent. In a state where only 17% of their constituents support Indiana’s total abortion ban, the 2025 legislative session includes several bills that seek to take the ban even further. Indiana lawmakers, are pushing several pieces of Rokita crafted legislation that gives the Indiana attorney general wide authority to prosecute variety of abortion related matters.
I encourage you to check out Amber story on Facebook. It is beautifully written and heart-wrenching, but you can also feel the resolve in Amber‘s words and her commitment to try to not let her experience be in vain.