INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Abortion opponents want Indiana to ban coverage for the procedure if the state creates a health care exchange as part of the new federal health care law, but critics said Friday the effort was misguided because the law doesn't provide any taxpayer money for abortions.
Still, Indiana Right to Life posted an online petition this week to campaign for such a law, and organizers say they hope to focus on grass-roots support.
"We've been swamped with calls and e-mails from folks since the federal health care plan passed," the group's president, Mike Fichter, said Friday. "It's something tangible that pro-life Hoosiers can do and know that they're having an impact."
It's far from certain that such a law could clear the House, currently controlled by Democrats but up for grabs in the November election. It's also unclear whether Indiana will create its own state-level health care insurance exchange where individuals and small businesses pool their buying power.
Louisiana on Wednesday became the latest state to pass such a ban, and Gov. Bobby Jindal is expected to sign in. Similar measures have passed in Arizona, Mississippi and Tennessee, but have been vetoed by governors in Florida and Oklahoma.
Indiana Right to Life does not have specific legislation in mind, but will look at bills other states have passed, Fichter said. He said he hasn't spoken to lawmakers or other elected officials, but plans to reach out to other social conservatives, tea party activists, church communities and others.
The online petition drew more than 150 signatures in its first few hours Thursday, and had about 300 by Friday afternoon, he said.
"Right now we see our focus is in building grass roots support," Fichter said.
Betty Cockrum, president of Planned Parenthood of Indiana, which operates three clinics where abortions are performed, said the federal health care law does not provide any taxpayer dollars for abortions.
"I think it's unfortunate that they're focusing on any aspect of the abortion discussion in conjunction with health care reform," she said.
When asked if the governor had a position on banning abortion coverage in a state exchange, Gov. Mitch Daniels' spokeswoman Jane Jankowski said the administration was still considering "whether to have a state exchange at all."
The federal health care law calls for states to establish exchanges by 2014, but the law also allows multistate exchanges or states to bypass an exchange entirely if they provided suitable alternative plans of their own, said public health insurance expert David Roos of Covering Kids & Families of Indiana.
Daniels recently created a stir among social conservatives when he said the next president should call a "truce" on social issues. He later said it was just a merely a suggestion and reflected how urgently he wanted to address problems with the economy, homeland security and America's role in the world.
In 2005, Daniels signed into law a bill requiring abortion providers to tell women about the availability of ultrasound imaging before ending their pregnancies — but that was the last significant anti-abortion bill to clear the Indiana General Assembly.
Last year the state Senate approved a bill that would have required abortion providers to among other things inform women seeking abortions that a fetus might feel pain. The bill died after the House made changes opposed by the Senate.
State Sen. Patricia Miller, an Indianapolis Republican who has sponsored past bills to restrict abortion, said the prospects for the type of legislation that Right to Life is backing might depend on whether Republicans regain control of the Indiana House in November. Democrats currently hold a 52-48 edge.
Indiana has nine clinics that provided a total of 10,887 abortions in 2007, the last year for which the Indiana State Department of Health has statistics.
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