Local pro-life and pro-choice groups voice opinions on proposed Indiana abortion ban

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A proposed bill by the Indiana Senate would ban abortion in the state with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.

The bill would end most abortions statewide, but some pro-life advocates still wish for tighter restrictions and harsher punishments.

“After the violence of rape, women deserve so much more than the violence of abortion as a solution to that,” says Melanie Garcia Lyon, Executive Director for Voices for Life. “Abortionists deserve to be punished for breaking the law, and weak penalties for abortion are really no penalties at all.”

For the Hoosiers that lean pro-choice, the fight for women’s rights is not over, but they are able to appreciate the exceptions outlined in the bill.

“I certainly feel like that’s cool for them making exceptions like that, but I feel like the women’s right to choose should not be taken away from her,” says Victoria Abner, an organizer for a Reproductive Rights Rally in La Porte.

Abner felt a need to plan the Reproductive Rights Rally to try and convince lawmakers not to restrict abortion.

“It’s not right for them to take away women’s rights,” Abner says. “It’s not necessarily just about abortion, it’s just about women’s rights in general. We’re feeling like violated, and we’re feeling like not heard enough.”

Meanwhile, Voices for Life in South Bend will be traveling to Indianapolis on Monday to support the ban.

“It’s going to be important that we are there standing for the unborn and their mothers,” Lyon says.

Advocates from both sides encourage people that are passionate about the issue to join them down at the Statehouse in Indianapolis on Monday for the Special Session.