The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit against the state of Indiana Thursday, claiming a new state law that targets a health clinic in Lafayette is unconstitutional, the Courier-Journal reports.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, and challenges Senate Enrolled Act 371, which expanded the definition of an “abortion clinic” to include a facility that provides an “abortion inducing drug” to terminate a pregnancy, even if the facility does not provide a surgical procedure.
The new law requires clinics offering the non-surgical procedure to comply with the same physical requirements as surgical facilities, which include separate procedure, recovery and scrub rooms. The clinic in Lafayette is the only facility in Indiana affected by the law.
“The laws irrationally and invidiously discriminate against PPINK [Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky],” Ken Falk, legal director of the ACLU of Indiana, told the Courier-Journal. “and pose a significant and unnecessary burden that violates the Constitution’s guarantees of privacy, due process and equal protection.”
