INDIANAPOLIS — A legal challenge is being mounted to block Indiana's new abortion restrictions.
On Wednesday, Governor Eric Holcomb signed into law two bills passed by the General Assembly which would put a stop to many second-trimester abortions.
One day later, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana announced it had filed a federal lawsuit aiming to stop the new law.
"Hoosiers spoke up in great numbers against the atrocity of dismemberment abortions this spring," said Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. "Legislators listened and thanks to Governor Eric Holcomb's signature, children will be protected from barbaric dismemberment abortions in Indiana. "
But at a news conference Thursday, the ACLU described the second trimester abortion as "a safe procedure performed before fetal viability. Similar or virtually identical laws have been blocked in eight other states," according to the organization.
The ACLU says the new law is unconstitutional because it puts an "undue burden on the right of a woman to obtain an abortion."
Unless the courts say otherwise, the bills signed into law by the governor Wednesday go into effect July 1.
