(LifeSiteNews) — A baby survived an abortion in Indiana, according to the latest state report.
The latest data from the state indicated that abortions have dropped 98.6% in Indiana, but the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) lists one instance where a “Fetus Was Born Alive.”
The Department of Health could not provide further information to LifeSiteNews.
“DOH’s role is to collect the required information, so we don’t have details beyond what is contained in the report,” chief communications officer Greta Sanderson said via email on Friday.
LifeSiteNews asked if the baby is still alive, what the general protocol is when a baby survives an abortion, and if he is counted in the 27 abortions or if there are 28 attempted abortions.
Indiana law recognizes the human rights of the baby who survives an abortion.
It states:
Any fetus born alive shall be treated as a person under the law, and a birth certificate shall be issued certifying the child’s birth even though the child may subsequently die, in which event a death certificate shall be issued. Failure to take all reasonable steps, in keeping with good medical practice, to preserve the life and health of the live born person shall subject the responsible persons to Indiana laws governing homicide, manslaughter, and civil liability for wrongful death and medical malpractice.
There were 27 reported abortions between April 1 and June 30, according to the “Terminated Pregnancy Report” released at the end of August. Nine of the babies were killed via “intracardiac injections,” which means a “heart attack abortion.” This is when chemicals are injected into a baby to kill it by inducing cardiac arrest.
By contrast, there were 1,938 abortions committed during the same time period in 2023.
Nineteen babies were killed due to perceived “lethal fetal anomaly,” six due to “serious health risk/life of the pregnant woman,” and two due to “rape/incest,” according to the latest report.
Numerous complications reported despite low number of abortions
Every abortion kills an innocent pre-born baby and so it can never truly be safe. But the “complications report” shows that abortion in almost every case caused medical problems for the mother.
There were 23 total complications reported, though a single abortion can have multiple consequences. Indiana reported two infections, three instances of vaginal bleeding, 15 cases of “incomplete abortion,” one case of “shock” and two other complications.
The report tracks data for the first three months, when a similar 98% drop was seen.
This year will be the first full year a state law that bans nearly all abortions will be in effect. The left-wing ACLU is attempting to undermine the law by citing questionable religious liberty claims, however.
Babies can be aborted up to 10 weeks if conceived in rape or incest as well as for “substantial and irreversible physical impairment” of the mother’s health, according to the legislation. The law also allows for the killing of preborn babies if they might “(suffer) from an irremediable medical condition that is incompatible with sustained life outside the womb up to 20 weeks.”
The “health” exception specifically excludes the broad “psychological or emotional” carveout. “A medical condition may not be determined to exist based on a claim or diagnosis that the woman will engage in conduct that she intends to result in her death or in physical harm.”
The law also bans abortion facilities, leaving only hospitals to kill unborn babies.
While the law includes exceptions, pro-lifers stress that a baby’s inherent human dignity and right to life does not come from the circumstances of his or her conception. Medical experts have also confirmed that direct abortion is never medically necessary.
Indiana Right to Life did not fully endorse the law based on the exemptions.
“(W)e acknowledge the path forward is either the potential to end the vast majority of abortions in Indiana, beginning with the closure of Indiana abortion clinics in mid-September, or allowing all abortions to continue under current law, as women from Ohio, Kentucky, and other states travel to Indiana for abortions,” the group said in 2022. “We urge every legislator to prayerfully consider how their vote will impact the path Indiana now chooses.”
As LifeSiteNews has previously noted, the decrease in reported abortions cannot fully capture other circumstances, such as women who traveled to nearby Illinois and Michigan for abortions. The reported abortions also don’t include self-induced, at-home abortions committed with abortion pills purchased online out of state or out of the country.
Abortion drugs have become more widely available due to deregulation by the Biden administration, including allowing them to be shipped across the country, in contradiction to longstanding federal law.
However, the effect abortion drug availability has on undermining bans has been challenged by Professor Michael New, a well-respected social scientist at Catholic University of America.