© 2024 Louisville Public Media

Public Files:
89.3 WFPL · 90.5 WUOL-FM · 91.9 WFPK

For assistance accessing our public files, please contact info@lpm.org or call 502-814-6500
89.3 WFPL News | 90.5 WUOL Classical 91.9 WFPK Music | KyCIR Investigations
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Stream: News Music Classical

Planned Parenthood’s Indiana clinics are booked solid for abortions until state ban takes effect

A silver-and-green packet of pills is open, showing the abortion medication mifepristone.
Phil Walter
/
Getty Images
When patients get an abortion, their options can include taking abortion medication — like mifepristone, pictured here, which is prescribed in combination with misoprostol — or getting a surgical procedure. However, Planned Parenthood's Indiana clinics are booked for abortion appointments in July. They can't take on more patients, and Indiana is set to outlaw almost all abortions in August.

Planned Parenthood runs four of Indiana’s six abortion clinics. The organization announced Wednesday that it’s at capacity for appointments until the state outlaws abortion.

Indiana is slated to prohibit practically all abortions starting Aug. 1, with very limited exceptions.

That’s because its state Supreme Court upheld the anti-abortion law in a June 30 ruling. The ban, which the Indiana Legislature passed in August 2022, had been in legal limbo for nearly a year.

Planned Parenthood’s clinics in Bloomington, Indianapolis, Lafayette and Merrillville already are booked out for appointments to provide abortions between now and when the law takes effect, said Tamarra Wieder of Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates.

She said all their available appointments for July filled up within a week of the state Supreme Court ruling. And they face a legal cutoff date on Aug. 1.

“As much as we wanted to continue providing this care, you know, we couldn’t work our doctors 24/7 up until that line,” she said. “It just wasn’t feasible.”

Wieder said Planned Parenthood’s Indiana locations are still able to help patients make plans to get an abortion at a clinic in another state. Their staff also can still provide pre-abortion services, such as the counseling many states require patients to receive before they can get an abortion.

People who oversee abortion funds recently said it has gotten harder to get an abortion in Indiana since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling last year and paved the way for states to eliminate abortion access.

Clinics have been overwhelmed with patients — not just from Indiana but from states like Kentucky, where near-total abortion bans are already in place.

“That’s the new reality, unfortunately. There is so much demand for abortion care in a region like ours,” Wieder said. “People from all across the country are desperately seeking services. … Unfortunately now we have to navigate our patients across state lines.”

Tags
Morgan is LPM's health & environment reporter. Email Morgan at mwatkins@lpm.org.

Can we count on your support?

Louisville Public Media depends on donations from members – generous people like you – for the majority of our funding. You can help make the next story possible with a donation of $10 or $20. We'll put your gift to work providing news and music for our diverse community.