INDIANAPOLIS – On Thursday, Democrat Jennifer McCormick released her gubernatorial plan to promote abortion rights within the state’s near-total abortion ban, detailing the executive actions she’d take if elected to bypass a Republican-led General Assembly.
“I’ve traveled 92 counties, listened to a lot of Hoosiers, and by far one of the biggest issues that we’re hearing about is reproductive rights and freedoms,” McCormick said in a virtual press conference. “I’ve made it clear … that I trust women. I trust our healthcare providers. And when you do that, you allow them the autonomy to make decisions that they need to make.”
She pointed to Hoosier’s support for abortion access. Ball State University reported earlier this year in its annual survey that nearly 60% of Hoosiers believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Given the makeup of both the House and Senate chambers, which Republicans have led for over a decade, McCormick outlined executive actions she would take to work within the state’s near-total abortion ban.
The Democrat said she would refocus on compliance assistance, rather than enforcement, while appointing abortion rights supporters to state boards and commissions — specifically the Indiana Medical Licensing Board and potentially the Indiana Supreme Court.
The governor’s office would be used “as a platform to defend abortion rights” and the state budget would get a line item for “reproductive health funding.”
Such moves wouldn’t reverse the state’s near-total ban, but would “move the needle and put pressure on our General Assembly,” McCormick said.
“You have to follow the law; that’s not an option,” she said. “… but there is a lot of space on educating people, making sure that they have the resources where they need to go (and) making sure we’re having a targeted effort to keep clinics open.”
Read more of the Whitney Downard story for the Indiana Capital Chronicle, here.
