INDIANAPOLIS - An anti-abortion group claimed Monday that a Lafayette clinic that offers RU-486, the so-called abortion pill, is violating Indiana law by performing abortions without a license.
Indiana Right to Life Legislative Director Sue Swayze said in a news release that the group has sent a letter asking the state attorney general's office to investigate whether Planned Parenthood's clinic in Lafayette meets state standards for inspections and licensing that are required of other abortion clinics.
Swayze said the Lafayette clinic didn't appear on a state health department list of licensed abortion clinics, even though state records showed 114 abortions had been performed in Tippecanoe County since 2010.
"Women who visit this Planned Parenthood office deserve to find a facility that meets the state requirements for health and safety required of all other Indiana abortion clinics," Swayze said.
A spokesman for the Indiana State Department of Health would not comment on the clinic's licensing status or whether abortions with RU-486 are treated the same as surgical abortions under state law. The drug was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2000.
"The ISDH will have to investigate the specific facts before determining if this practice violates any laws of Indiana for which ISDH is responsible for enforcing," spokesman Ken Severson said in an email.
A legal citation provided by the agency, however, defined abortion as "the termination of human pregnancy with an intention other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus." Severson did not know if any laws made specific mention of RU-486.
Planned Parenthood of Indiana President Betty Cockrum said in a statement that all of the organization's clinics comply with state law.
"While we're not shocked that these extremists would stoop to these tactics, we are disappointed that they would flat-out lie," Cockrum said. "The fact is that our health center in Lafayette, like our other 27 health centers across the state, provides its services in accordance with Indiana law, without fail."
The Lafayette clinic's website says the facility offers medication abortions using RU-486.
Bryan Corbin, a spokesman for the attorney general's office, said any complaints about clinics would be referred to the state health department. The office could not comment on the legality of abortions at the Lafayette clinic because it can provide legal opinions only to state officials.
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