Appeals Court Lets Planned Parenthood Take Teens Out of State for Secret Abortions
A federal appeals court has struck down an Indiana law meant to protect pregnant teen girls and keep their parents involved, clearing the way for Planned Parenthood to take minors out of state for secret abortions without parental consent or a judicial waiver.
The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in August that Indiana’s 2017 “aid-or-assist” statute violated the First Amendment. The law barred anyone from knowingly helping a teen girl obtain an abortion unless the state’s parental consent requirements were met or a court granted a bypass.
Planned Parenthood sued before the measure could take effect, arguing it restricted speech, as if the First Amendment protected the right to facilitate secret abortions on teen girls and their babies.
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Writing for the majority, Judge David Hamilton, a Democrat appointee who has struck down multiple pro-life laws, said the law was not viewpoint-neutral because it prohibited speech that would help a minor get an abortion without parental consent while allowing speech that discouraged it. Judge Michael Scudder concurred in the result but said the majority undervalued Indiana’s compelling interest in keeping parents involved in such a serious decision for their daughters.
Indiana currently bans most abortions following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision. With the state law protecting unborn babies inside its borders, the appeals court ruling leaves an opening for abortion sellers to steer pregnant teens across state lines for secret abortions.
State officials have asked the full 7th Circuit to reconsider the panel’s decision. Pro-life advocates argue the ruling undermines parental rights, exposes vulnerable girls to medical risks without family support, and effectively allows abortion groups to bypass the very protections Indiana enacted to keep parents informed.
The 2017 law was never enforced due to earlier court blocks. With the latest ruling still in effect, Planned Parenthood and other groups remain free to provide minors with information and referrals for abortions in states where the procedure is legal, without first involving their parents.
