(AP) — A state report shows that the number of abortions performed in Indiana increased last year for the first time since 2009.
A report released June 30 by the Indiana State Department of Health shows that nearly 7,800 women opted to terminate pregnancies in 2017, almost 500 more than the previous year. The report looks at abortion trends over a five-year period.
Anti-abortion activists blame the increase on a federal judge’s order last year blocking a 2016 law’s requirement that women seeking an abortion undergo an ultrasound at least 18 hours prior to the procedure.
Christie Gillespie is the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky. She says Indiana has some of the country’s strictest abortion laws “and women are still choosing to terminate their pregnancies.”