In a world… (Cue ominous music)
The State of Reproductive Rights in the State of Indiana is: Under Siege. At Maximum Risk. Marked for Elimination. Battle Ready. Fighting Back… OK, basically, it’s anything that sounds like a cheesy 80’s action movie.
The Vagical Mystery Tour makes its Maximum Impact in Indiana on Tuesday, July 17 in beautiful South Bend, with a very special show for the even more beautiful Whole Woman’s Health Alliance. Their struggles to open a NEW and much NEEDED clinic in South Bend highlight everything we’re up against in Indiana.
Whole Woman’s Health Alliance is, of course, the organization of clinics and advocates in multiple states founded by LPJL’s BFF and inspiration Amy Hagstrom Miller. Their fight all the way to victory in the Supreme Court in Whole Woman’s Health vs Hellerstedt in 2016 is STILL the defining moment for repro rights in America for this generation!
And Indiana is, of course, the place that gave us the simpering silverback vag invader Mike Pence, whose damage still scars Indiana. And the pain in Indiana is real—95% of the counties, where two-thirds of the people of Indiana live, have no provider. Yet still, Indiana is one of the few states where abortion rates are on the increase! How’s that repression working out for ya, Mike?
But for every shitty stick that Indiana’s puritanical politicos throw at the good people of Indiana, someone pushes back—hard. Like the TRAP laws and other legal snares that get laid for clinics and patients alike. Under Pence, Indiana passed some of the nastiest laws in the nation. There’s the whole ugly TRAP mess of corridor widths, admitting privileges, and bans on telemedicine only for abortion. The mandatory waiting period is “only” 18 hours, but plenty enough to require two visits.
And before he left, Mike Pence signed a bill that spelled out all of those obscenities and more—another part of the bill prohibited abortions due to race, sex, or disability such as Down syndrome. In other words, the state of Indiana was going to crawl into your brain AND your uterus at the same time.
Well, after the 2016 Supreme Court victory, Whole Woman’s Health and other advocates decided to whip out a big ol’ can of Fight Back. They filed a lawsuit with the aim of sinking that whole nasty raft of those laws from TRAP laws to parental consent laws to the waiting period. THAT’s why LPJL is coming to Indiana to help WWH of South Bend launch a new clinic!
Of course, these days, for every clinic, there’s an anti-clinic FAKE “crisis pregnancy center.” Like a lot of states, Indiana actually funds these frauds—in the case of Indiana, to the tune of $1.7 million in funds meant for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families. And like the rodents that they are, one of these faux clinics has been invading the space of the new WWH clinic before it even opens. After getting denied a permit to open NEXT DOOR, these rats have—ironically enough—found a home at a CAT HOTEL (!) across the street!
Which brings us back to the cheesy 80’s action movie. These suckass cyborgs keep coming at us, but but we’re going to keep fighting until we get Final Victory. Rule of Law. Inalienable Rights. Justice for All…. you get the picture.
We’ll be back!
