Abortion groups react to Indiana Senate Republicans proposal for abortion restrictions

INDIANAPOLIS — Both Indiana Right to Life and the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana are speaking out about the Indiana Senate Republicans' proposal to further regulate abortion access.

Neither organization is happy with the proposal, but for very different reasons.

ACLU of Indiana supports a woman's right to choose. Since this legislation restricts abortion in most cases, they feel it is too extreme. To send legislators a message 200 businesses have signed a letter titled “Don't Ban Equality.”

According to the ACLU, the letter has been circulating for a few weeks. With Senate Republicans releasing Senate Bill 1, they wanted to get the word out so other businesses could sign on too.

"The business that signed on to the don't ban equality letter understand that equality in the workplace is one of the most important business issues of our time, " Katie Blair with the America Civil Liberties Union said.

Silver in the City is one of the businesses that signed the letter. The business has been a longtime supporter of abortion rights. They have donated proceeds from their sales to Planned Parenthood and the ACLU. The owner says supporting abortion rights are vital to women’s equality.

"My bottom line is not as important as a woman’s ability to have her own choice in her own healthcare, " said Kristin Kohn the owner of Silver in the City.

On the other side of the debate, Indiana Right To Life also isn't happy with the proposed abortion legislation. Ahead of the release of the draft legislation Wednesday, the CEO said there was a need for stricter penalties for abortion providers who violate the law, something that currently isn't written in the legislation.

"We expect legislation that has enforcement mechanisms built within it,” Mike Fichter the CEO of Indiana Right to Life said during a Wednesday press briefing said. “We all know county prosecutors have openly stated that they will not enforce a new pro-life law if it is passed in the state of Indiana. "

Under current Indiana law, a doctor who performs an illegal abortion can be investigated and their license can be taken away. Indiana Right to Life sent out a statement late Wednesday following the announcement. You can read that statement by clicking here.

We requested an interview with Indiana Right to Life for them to clarify what extra enforcement mechanisms they would like to see, but that request was denied. The organization does support the increase of the child tax credit proposed by senate republicans as well as an increase in funding.

The abortion legislation proposed by senate republicans would allow abortion in cases of rape, incest, or when the mother's life is at risk. Lawmakers will return to the state house on Monday, July 25.