Indiana
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What some are calling a “dangerous” escalation of Indiana’s abortion ban, others are calling a chance to close a gaping loophole.
They’re talking about a bill cracking down on abortion-inducing drugs in Indiana, which passed the state Senate on Jan. 27 by a 35-10 vote and represents the next frontier of the anti-abortion movement.
“In a post-Dobbs era, Indiana has chosen life,” bill author Sen. Tyler Johnson, R-Leo, said on the Senate floor. “This bill reinforces that choice by defining abortion clearly and providing civil tools to enforce our laws.”
Republican lawmakers have been eyeing these drugs in recent years since the felling of Roe v. Wade in 2022 and the abortion ban that immediately followed in Indiana. That law prohibits doctors here from providing abortions except in cases of rape, incest, fatal fetal anomalies or when the pregnant person’s life is at risk, and says all medication abortions must be conducted in-person, not via telehealth.
But federal regulations do allow abortion-inducing drugs to be accessed through telehealth services and mailed to patients ― such as from abortion-allowing states to abortion-restricting states. That’s where the rub is.
“What we’re seeing is an influx, and people breaking the law and mailing these drugs directly to women. God forbid any of you physicians are complicit in that,” Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, another author of Senate Bill 236, scolded a handful of doctors who came before the Senate judiciary committee to speak against the bill.
The bill would outlaw the manufacturing, mailing, prescribing or delivering of abortion-inducing drugs to Hoosiers not by making this a criminal act, but a civil one over which any citizen could wage a wrongful-death or whistleblower lawsuit.
In other words, any Hoosier who believes someone ordered a drug to perform an illegal abortion in Indiana could sue a person responsible for doing the manufacturing, mailing, prescribing or delivering. But exempt from liability are the pregnant mother, Indiana doctors and health facilities, internet service providers, transportation network companies and mail carriers. This means, though, that Hoosiers could sue out-of-state doctors.
“In the very rare instances where it is legal to prescribe the abortion bill, you will follow our laws and be licensed here,” Brown said. “You will not be mailing it.”
Those doing the suing can reap relief of at least $100,000 if they win, plus have their attorney’s fees paid by the defendant.
Indianapolis attorney Kathleen DeLaney likened this to bounty hunting.
“What’s really happening here is creating an army of private litigants standing in the name of the government seeking $100k bounties from others,” she said.
Though LaGrange Republican Sen. Sue Glick authored the original abortion ban in 2022, she sympathized with the bill’s opponents, saying the bill would have a “chilling effect” by forcing doctors to second-guess every little circumstance and then allowing non-experts to wage lawsuits.
“We’re sitting here making a decision to allow non-medical people make medical decisions on these issues and then we throw it to non-lawyers to litigate whether or not these were proper medical decisions,” she said during the judiciary committee hearing, before voting no. She voted in favor on the bill on the floor.
But Brown contended the only chilling effect will be on people providing illegal abortions, including via the mail.
“We’re looking for… bad actors obtaining these pills illegally to kill a baby,” she said on the Senate floor Jan. 26. “So yeah, we’re okay with suing them.”
Bill spurs confusion
Doctors who oppose the bill are not only concerned that the lawsuit-enabling language would add fear and confusion to the atmosphere in which they provide care, but they say so would a few other provisions in the bill.
For one, the bill amends slightly the definition of abortion to specifically exempt procedures done to expel a miscarriage, stillbirth or ectopic pregnancy.
But that leaves out a number of other scenarios that they now feel the need to call into question, such as a molar pregnancy, in which fetal body parts and even a heart beat can develop but won’t become an actual baby. Leaving such a pregnancy untreated can lead to cancer or infertility, said Dr. Erin Lips, a gynecologic oncologist at IU Health.
“In my last few years I’ve seen more new moms on death’s door in Indiana than I would have expected,” she said. “Cases like this will become more common.”
They are further concerned about the part of the bill that would add details required in terminated pregnancy reports ― including the name of the person who provided the abortion care ― and require these reports be filed to the office of the inspector general, in addition to the department of health.
At play in the background is an ongoing lawsuit over the question of whether these reports should be public documents subject to Indiana’s public records law. Attorney General Todd Rokita supports making them public, but a Marion County judge has temporarily declared them private medical records.
State lawmakers want additional oversight over the terminated pregnancy reports to make sure Indiana doctors aren’t performing abortions illegally. The doctors are fearful that added confusion over what counts as an illegal abortion will lead to delays in care, and thus risks to the patients’ health.
Those doctors and patients are also uncomfortable with personal patient data, such as their age, race and county that is listed in these reports, being seen by parties outside the department of health.
Danielle Spry, a Hendricks County mother who said she had a second-trimester abortion in 2019 due to a catastrophic disability she learned about 20 weeks along, said the idea that her private medical decision would be examined by people outside the medical field is “violating.”
“How dare any of you look at me and say you would have done anything different,” she said.
How common are medication abortions in Indiana?
Since the abortion ban actually took effect in late 2023, the state health department has reported about 30 to 40 abortions a quarter, compared to pre-ban figures of about 2,000 a quarter, according to the department’s aggregate abortion reporting.
Of those 42 abortions performed in the third quarter of 2025, about a quarter were done using abortion-inducing drugs Misoprostol and Mifepristone. This data only accounts for abortions performed in medical settings that are reported to the state and may not present a complete picture, however.
Abortions provided through telehealth, most likely from out-of-state providers, have been rising since Indiana’s abortion ban took effect, according to a new report by the Society for Family Planning. Where there were virtually none prior to July 2023, the number reported after that has steadily climed from about 200 a month in 2024 to 400 a month in 2025.
Contact IndyStar Statehouse reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@indystar.com or follow her on X @kayla_dwyer17.
(The REPORTER) — The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, June 10, regarding a proposed corridor improvement project on State Road 32 in Hamilton County.
The hearing will provide an opportunity for the public to interact with the project team, review the features of the proposed roundabout project, and provide official public comment. Project documents are available for review at improvetomove32.com.
The project area is between East Street in Westfield and River Road in Noblesville. The proposed project includes adding lanes to accommodate two lanes in each direction, removing all traffic signals within the project limits, and constructing roundabouts at the following intersections with SR 32:
- Carey Road/Grassy Branch Road
- Gunther Boulevard
- Shady Nook Road
- Moontown Road/Gray Road
- Pebble Brook Boulevard
- Hazel Dell Road/Little Chicago Road
- Mill Creek Road
The hearing will take place at Prairie Waters Event Center, 4180 Westfield Road, Westfield. Doors will open at 5 p.m. to allow the public to view displays and talk with the project team. A presentation will be given at 5:30 p.m., with a public comment session held directly after. INDOT is offering livestreams of all public meetings and hearings. You must register here in order to participate in the livestream. Livestream audience comments will only be accepted in written electronic form, not verbally. A recording of the livestream presentation will be posted on the project webpage and INDOT YouTube page after the hearing and will be available for at least 90 days.
All verbal statements recorded during the public hearing and all written comments submitted prior to, during and for a period of two weeks following the hearing date, will be evaluated, considered, and addressed in subsequent environmental documentation.
Written comments may be submitted within the comment period to Nick Batta, CMT, 8790 Purdue Road, Indianapolis, IN 46268; or sent via email to SR32HamiltonCounty@cmtengr.com.
INDOT respectfully requests comments be submitted by June 26.
A beloved tradition is drawing stitchers, shoppers, and curious newcomers across the region.
If you have ever walked into a quilt shop “just to look,” you already know how that story ends. One minute you are admiring a cheerful stack of fabric with names like sunflower, buttercream, and cardinal red, and the next you are seriously considering whether your house has room for a new table runner, a holiday wall hanging, and perhaps a life-changing bundle of fat quarters. Quilt shops have that effect. They are part treasure hunt, part therapy session, part color explosion, and in Southeastern Indiana, they are also some of the friendliest gathering places around.
That is especially true during the ALL INDIANA SHOP HOP, the statewide sewing and quilting event running through June 30, 2026.
The idea is delightfully simple: visit participating quilt shops, collect passport stamps, pick up thank-you gifts, and become eligible for prizes. The official event even describes it as a quilting version of a bar crawl, only with less late-night regret and more batting, bobbins, and beautiful fabric. There is even a youth passport for ages 8 to 17, which is a nice reminder that quilting is not just a pastime handed down from grandparents. It is also being discovered by a new generation who like making things by hand, repurposing fabric to help the environment, learning skills online, and sharing their creations proudly.
And really, quilting has everything going for it. It is practical, creative, social, and just a little bit magical.
A quilt can be a baby gift, a comfort during a hard season, a graduation present, a family heirloom, or simply a way to make a couch look much more put together than the people sitting on it. Quilters are surgeons with rotary cutters, artists with thread, and storytellers with fabric. They notice pattern, texture, memory, and meaning. Even non-quilters tend to fall under the spell. You do not need to know how to piece a block to appreciate the patience, skill, and imagination it takes to turn small shapes into something that warms both the room and the people in it.
That is one reason local quilt shops matter so much.
Yes, they sell fabric, books, notions, patterns, batting, and tools that can make a beginner feel both excited and slightly underqualified. But they also do something online shopping cannot: they welcome people in. Good quilt shops are places where somebody will help you match prints, explain what on earth a layer cake is, admire your progress, and gently steer you away from a fabric choice you may regret in broad daylight. They are equal parts classroom, clubhouse, and creative headquarters.
Southeastern Indiana is lucky to have several shops that make a Shop Hop route feel less like an errand list and more like a mini road trip with excellent scenery and even better conversation.
In Versailles, The Quilter’s Nook has become a creative quilting and sewing destination with classes, learning opportunities, and plenty of supplies and inspiration for anyone wanting to sharpen their skills or finally start that project they have been thinking about for two years. In Greensburg, Tree City Stitches is known for its premium fabrics, project kits, classes, and welcoming atmosphere, with plenty of samples on display to spark ideas before you even make it to the cutting counter.
In Vevay, Cardinal Quilts offers a deep fabric selection, quilting classes, and longarm services, making it the kind of place where serious quilters can stock up and newcomers can get helpful guidance without a trace of intimidation. And in Madison, L&L Yard Goods has been operating in the same location since 1986, offering quilting essentials, classes, and the sort of steady hometown presence that makes people come back year after year.
Together, these shops help keep quilting visible, vibrant, and local.
They also provide handmade quilts for community projects, children’s hospitals, veterans, and emergency services just like the early quilters did centuries ago.
So if your summer plans could use a little more color, a little more small-town charm,
and maybe a little more excuse to buy fabric you absolutely do not need but definitely deserve, the Shop Hop is calling. Bring a friend, bring your passport, and bring a willingness to be delighted by places where craftsmanship still matters and people still make beautiful things with their hands.
In Southeastern Indiana, quilting is more than a hobby.
It is history from the days of early pioneers, hospitality that warms you, creativity and community all stitched together one square at a time.
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