Editorial Roundup: Indiana
Indianapolis Business Journal. July 22, 2022.
Editorial: Abortion debate should be open, vigorous and respectful process
As the Legislature prepares to consider further restrictions on abortion, our hope is that lawmakers and the public at large can conduct themselves in a respectful manner that allows for open debate and negotiation.
The process in Indiana has been largely closed in the four weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and gave decisions about how to regulate abortions to the states.
The Republican majorities in the Indiana House and Senate have met in private caucus to try to come to some agreement on proposed restrictions. Republican leaders have privately polled their members about what approach to take.
Finally, on Wednesday, Senate Republicans unveiled their proposal to ban abortion except in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother. But we've yet to hear from House Republicans as the Legislature prepares to convene for a special session on Monday.
Now, we're hoping for an open, vigorous and thoughtful debate.
Granted, abortion doesn't lend itself well to compromise, because some activists view other points of view as completely illegitimate. Passions run high. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to have a robust public debate on the issue and come to some reasonable decisions.
Surely, we can feel empathy for the 10-year-old rape victim who had to travel to Indiana late last month for legal access to an abortion, as well as for the person who is morally anguished by the more than 8,400 abortions performed in Indiana last year.
No matter a person's position, we need to respect that his or her feelings and passions are real and not dismiss them out of hand. We need to seek first to understand, not use any means necessary to score purely political points.
The Legislature needs to show that respect by making sure adequate time and space are allowed for all sides to present their cases.
Our sincere hope is that House Speaker Todd Huston and Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray will stick to their commitment to vet bills through the full legislative process, including committee hearings and public testimony.
More than that, we hope they will take care to hold the committee hearings in a place that will adequately accommodate the array and volume of public testimony needed to explore all sides of this sensitive issue.
The Statehouse's cramped committee rooms certainly aren't large enough to host the debate. Thankfully, the Senate has scheduled its committee hearings for its more spacious chambers. But 0ff-site venues such as the convention center also should be explored as potential committee hearing sites to hear the concerns and questions of women, religious leaders, medical caregivers, pharmacists, businesses and anyone else who will be affected by the Legislature's actions.
We encourage anyone with strong feelings on the issue to participate vigorously and respectfully in our democratic process, with the understanding that the Legislature can't possibly let everyone with such a desire to testify at the public hearings.
At the same time, the Legislature should do whatever it can to make sure that the array of views on this polarizing issue are allowed to be properly represented.
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Terre Haute Tribune-Star. July 20, 2022.
Editorial: New hotline help for those in crisis
More Terre Hauteans, Hoosiers and Americans are in need of mental health services after more than two years of the COVID-19 pandemic and its multiple effects.
A new nationwide 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline went live on Saturday and is intended to provide a first layer of help to those in need. The three-digit dialing code will connect callers to the hotline, formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The new three-digit process adds speed and simplicity, much like the 911 emergency hotlines. It puts a caller in touch with a trained crisis specialist.
Certainly, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline should become as well recognized as 911 to the general public. Its necessity is great. Mental health issues have grown through the isolation and uncertainty of the pandemic.
'œOne serious, lingering result of the COVID-19 pandemic that has been widely recognized by experts all over the country is a worsening of our mental health crisis,'ť Dr. Dan Ursyniak, the Indiana FSSA secretary, said in a statement last week.
The Indiana FSSA will use federal funds, including those from the American Rescue Plan Act, to support the 988 system needs here, according to the agency's website.
In last Thursday's announcement concerning new funding for mental health services in the state, the Indiana FSSA issued a reminder that the new national hotline number was about to take effect. The 988 hotline, according to its website, 'œprovides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the United States.'ť The 988 hotline involves a network of more than 200 local crisis call centers. Indiana has three, in Gary, Muncie and Lafayette, WFYI reported last month.
The Indiana FSSA said Thursday that the 988 services will grow, long-term. 'œIn the coming years, that service will be expanded to include a response team and locations where people can go for help,'ť the agency statement said. 'œThe work to develop this complete system is well underway and will continue over the next seven to 10 years.'ť
Meanwhile, the free national 988 crisis hotline is underway. People experiencing any type of mental health crisis will be able to reach a compassionate specialist for support. Also, people can call 988 to help a loved one in the midst of a mental health or substance use crisis.
Help is as close as punching three numerals into a phone. Share the 988 number with family and friends. It could save a life.
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Anderson Herald Bulletin. July 20, 2022.
Editorial: Rokita's focus should be on child rape victim
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is the latest person to go after Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the Indiana physician who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old Ohio girl who had been sexually assaulted.
The Indiana Attorney General's office and Bernard have been going at it since April 2019 when Bernard filed a federal lawsuit challenging Indiana's then-latest abortion law. Rokita became Attorney General in January 2021.
The case is still continuing.
In April 2019, Indianapolis physician Bernard and the ACLU of Indiana sued members of the Indiana Medical Licensing Board and the Marion County Prosecutor's office to challenge the constitutionality of House Enrolled Act 1211, which would have banned dilation and evacuation abortions. That procedure was used in the majority of abortions performed after the early part of the second trimester.
The law was scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2019. However, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana granted a preliminary injunction on June 28, 2019, preventing the law from going into effect.
But the case took a sharp turn on June 24 following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization which held that the Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.
Rokita has new energy thanks to Dobbs. Or does he just have a vendetta?
His latest filings in the case included, 'œDr. Bernard's complaint presumes a constitutional right that Dobbs negates, rests on precedents that Dobbs overrules, and seeks to impair legitimate State interests that Dobbs embraces. The court should promptly enter judgment on the pleadings in favor of the State.'ť
The case couldn't have encountered more twists. Only Todd Rokita could make things worse.
And he did on July 14.
Rokita sent a letter to Gov. Eric Holcomb demanding that the Indiana Board of Health give him termination of pregnancy report (TPR) if filed by Bernard. A physician who treats a pre-teen victim of sexual assault must report it to police, and if the physician aborts the pregnancy a report must be sent to the state health department.
Bernard had indeed filed the TPR.
But Rokita had already made it clear. He wanted to prosecute Bernard and go after her medical license.
Rokita made a horrible situation even worse.
Bernard's actions protected a young girl from the torment of being pregnant at the age of 10.
Rokita is blinded by anti-abortion zeal and his disdain for a specific abortion doctor. Instead he should be trying to protect and support a child victimized by rape.
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