Catholic Social Ethics Research Papers

Recently, Indiana Governor Mike Pence signed , a bill that was drafted for the purpose of House Bill 1337 accomplishing many pro-life initiatives. From trying to accomplish reasonable abortion clinic regulations to trying to discourage the horrific practices of sex-selection abortions or abortions based on disability or race, Indiana has certainly taken notes from the many other states which have passed very similar types of omnibus proposals. While much of the newly signed law is ingenious, there is a provision that appears to be problematic. Many in the prolife movement since this was supposed to be a bill that would prohibit the practice of celebrated abortion based on discrimination. In essence, the bill is supposed to ensure " That Indiana does not allow a fetus to be aborted solely because of the fetus's race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, or diagnosis or potential diagnosis of the fetus having Down syndrome or any other disability " (See Indiana House Enrolled Act No. 1337, pg. 8). However, there is a question as to how this will be enforced since nowhere within the bill does the woman have to inform the abortionist as to why she is terminating the life of her unborn child. While the law will have the effect of deterring some women from aborting their children for the aforementioned reasons because she must be informed orally and in writing, the simple fact remains that it will not be able to ban all forms of " discrimination " abortion. It is possible, however, that a future session of the Indiana Legislature could amend the new law by mandating that the woman must inform the abortionist, in writing, of the reason for her abortion, otherwise, Indiana's ban for these types of abortions will be primarily symbolic and not an actual ban. This is not to say that the other provisions in the bill are problematic, quite to the contrary. Many aspects of this bill will seek to help tighten abortion clinic regulations and help humanize the unborn child. Firstly, there are two features of HB 1337 that will help put a human face on the preborn child that is facing termination: 1) the requirement that the pregnant mother be informed that if her child has a " lethal fetal anomaly " of the option of perinatal hospice. For the uninitiated, perinatal hospice is that hospice care for those children who will die before or soon after birth. This sort of care emphasizes the human dignity of the child. The child is not perceived as a mere object to be destroyed because of some lethal abnormality. Rather the child and mother are treated as human beings made in the image of God. The family and the child are allowed to bond in a natural way and allows the parents to grieve in a natural way since the child is loved and allow to die in a peaceful manner. 2) The bill also mandates that the remains of the aborted unborn child must be interred or cremated or, if the pregnant woman chooses to pay, the child can be cremated or interred at a proper location of her choosing. This has a twofold effect: firstly it helps curb the practice of selling fetal body parts and secondly, this bill requires the mother to choose if she will participate in an actual corporeal act of mercy—to bury the dead.

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