News Archive

Indiana University experts in a variety of areas of law gathered June 27 to talk with media members regarding the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. IU McKinney professors Jennifer Drobac and Aila Hoss took part in the media availability. Media members from central and southern Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky, took part.

Professor Drobac referenced Indiana’s poor maternal health rates and said, “Forbidding or banning this medical procedure subjects women to higher risks of death particularly in Indiana,” she said. “It completely unravels what liberty means. I don’t think you can do that and not anticipate as Justice Thomas indicated in his concurrence that this won’t affect other rights such as the right to procreation, the right to contraception, the right to marry the person you want, the right to raise and nurture your children the way you think is appropriate.”

The prosecutor in Marion County has indicated that office will not pursue abortion cases, and legal experts say it’s difficult to make those kinds of promises. The situation makes it difficult for healthcare providers to determine how to move forward. "In response to the law, what this is going to mean for press attention that they might try to avoid, what does this mean for providers who are confused and conflicted,” Professor Hoss said. “I don't know how this is going to pan out, but it's going to be a mess and it will be for a while."

The interviews appeared on WRTV, WAVE, and WYMT, among other outlets.