By: Sydney Xiong

Indiana’s new ban on abortions caused an immediate political and economic fallout on

Saturday, as some of Indiana’s biggest employers object to the ban. Democratic leaders are

strategizing ways to appeal the restriction while pro-choice activists are making plans to arrange alternative locations to provide safe abortions.

The Indiana law was the first state ban passed since the U.S Supreme Court overruled

Roe v. Wade in June. This was celebrated by pro-life activists as a major victory.

The Indiana vote caused weeks of intense debate, where activists waged intense lobbying

campaigns at the state capitol to demonstrate their activism while Republican lawmakers debated on how far the restriction should go.

The ban in Indiana will be in effect on September 15, and allows only abortions due to

rape, incest, lethal fatal abnormality, or when abortion is necessary to prevent severe health risks or death. Indiana is one of the 9 states that currently have abortion bans.

After the legislations were signed into law, Eli Lilly, one of the state’s largest employers

and the pharmaceutical giant warned that these laws “ would hurt its employee recruiting efforts and said the company would look elsewhere for its expansion plans.”

“We are concerned that this law will hinder Lilly’s — and Indiana’s — ability to attract

diverse scientific engineering and business talent from around the world. Given this new law, we will be forced to plan for more employment growth outside our home state,” said the company.

The Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce also warned that the restrictions were passed too

quickly and such laws may affect the state’s tourism industry. “Such an expedited legislative

process — rushing to advance state policy on broad, complex issues — is, at best, detrimental to Hoosiers, and at worst, reckless,” the chamber said in a statement.

Indiana has considered an abortion ban for years yet was long seen as a state where

patients in the region traveled to seek abortion care. Many nearby states now, such as Ohio,

Kentucky and West Virginia, are also pushing for abortion bans. This means that patients will

need to travel hundreds of miles to seek care. “Patients in Ohio won’t be able to go to Indiana

for access. They’ll have to get to, perhaps, Illinois or Michigan,” said policy expert Elizabeth

Nash at Guttmacher Institute.

However, Democrats are hopeful that they will be able to use what is happening in

Indiana to cast the entire Republican party and anti abortionists as extreme on banning abortion.

“This has nothing to do with being ‘pro-life,’” tweeted California Governor

Gavin Newsom. “It’s about power and control.”