Gov. Holcomb signs abortion bill, tax refund bill into law

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR/WNDU/WPTA) – The Indiana State Senate passed a proposed abortion ban bill Friday night.

This comes after the bill passed through the House with several amendments earlier in the day.

Senate Bill 1 passed with a 62 to 38 vote in the House after several hours of discussion. In a final vote, the bill passed through the Senate in a 28 to 19.

The House vote included a last ditch effort by Democrats to postpone the measure before the final vote. However, the motion failed and it went back to the Senate for final vote.

SB1 had previously passed in the Senate 26-20.

The bill is a near-total abortion ban with few exceptions including rape, incest and the life of the mother.

Meanwhile, the Senate approved the $200 tax refund bill after the House passed it earlier Friday.

The Indiana House passed an amended abortion ban bill and an inflation relief bill earlier Friday, sending both bills back to the Indiana Senate.

Indiana lawmakers started work during a special session on July 25. The session, called for by Gov. Eric Holcomb, will allow lawmakers to consider abortion ban legislation and how to give Hoosiers a tax break given the state’s surplus.

Timeline of events – Friday, Aug. 5

11:30 p.m. – State senators reacted to the bill’s passage after Friday’s vote.

“These kinds of decisions are never made in a vacuum and there are polls going each way, but actually the insistence here is we protect as many people as possible,” said Sen. Sue Glick, R-District 13. “The state of Indiana has the ability to go forward and adopt programs and become invovled in these issues to the extent that we can help these women deliver and deliver safely and to take care of these babies as they come along.”

“If you’re pro-life, you can’t be happy. If you’re pro-choice, you can’t be happy. I don’t know who left here happy. All I know is people need to go out and vote in November,” said Sen. Greg Taylor, D-District 13.

11:15 p.m. – Gov. Eric Holcomb said he has signed Senate Bill 1 and Senate Bill 2 into law.

“Following the overturning of Roe, I stated clearly that I would be willing to support legislation that made progress in protecting life. In my view, SEA 1 accomplishes this goal following its passage in both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly with a solid majority of support,” Holcomb said in a statement after signing the legislation. “These actions followed long days of hearings filled with sobering and personal testimony from citizens and elected representatives on this emotional and complex topic. Ultimately, those voices shaped and informed the final contents of the legislation and its carefully negotiated exceptions to address some of the unthinkable circumstances a woman or unborn child might face.”

After dozens of Indiana residents took the opportunity to speak in front of the Legislature, sharing their personal beliefs about abortion, the governor encouraged Hoosiers to continue to reach out to their elected officials to make their opinions known.

“Looking back, I am personally most proud of each Hoosier who came forward to courageously share their views in a debate that is unlikely to cease any time soon. For my part as your governor, I will continue to keep an open ear,” Holcomb said.

Read the governor’s full statement here.

9:58 p.m. – The Senate passed the abortion ban bill with a 28-19 vote.

The bill now heads to Holcomb’s desk for his signature before it becomes law.

6:40 p.m. – The Senate is taking up the abortion ban bill. Republicans are expected to pass the House-amended bill and send it to the governor’s desk.

4:00 p.m. – The Senate is in recess until around 6:30 p.m. when it is expected to reconvene to tackle the abortion ban bill.

3:55 p.m. – The Senate approved the $200 tax refund bill after the House passed it earlier Friday. The measure now heads to Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk.

3:04 p.m. – The Senate filed a motion to concur on SB 1, which means the Senate will accept the amended House abortion ban version as is.

3:00 p.m. – The Senate is taking up the amended SB 2, which includes the $200 tax refund for Hoosiers taxpayers.

2:24 p.m. – The House passed an amended abortion ban bill. It now goes back to the Senate to consider the changes.

12:25 p.m. – The debate over the abortion ban bill has passed 2 hours.

12:20 p.m. – Rep. Renee Pack says she is standing against further oppression of girls & women in the state of Indiana. Says beliefs of Republican representatives should not be put on the women of Indiana. Passionately objects to being called a murderer by colleagues.

11:30 a.m. – Some Republicans continue criticism of the GOP bill saying it does not go far enough. Rep. Matt Hostettler is urging his fellow Republicans to come back in the next session and strengthen the ban.

10:40 a.m. – Democrats strongly voiced their opposition to the abortion ban. Among their remarks: “Sadly women will lose,” “Don’t pretend the abortion ban will not kill women,” “Health care providers and doctors will flee our state.”

10:35 a.m. – The House is now debating SB 1, the abortion ban bill.

10:14 a.m. – The House passed SB 2 for inflation relief 93-6.

The version passed Friday morning would make Indiana taxpayers eligible for $200 rebate payments from the state’s surging budget surplus under an apparent deal reached among Republican legislators. The measure overwhelmingly passed the House on Friday morning and GOP Senators have already signaled they will pass it.

Those payments will be less than the $225 refunds that were originally proposed by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb but the deal represents a concession from GOP senators who were reluctant to go along with that plan.

10:10 a.m. – Rep. James DeLaney (D) likened the current inflation relief proposal to an empty pinata or a cookie jar filled with store-bought wafers. He said from the House floor that the surplus could potentially provide six times more relief to Hoosiers than what Republican leaders proposed.

9:46 a.m. – The House is starting with SB 2 (tax refund plan). Sponsor Rep. Tim Brown said the Senate supports the compromise package being considered. Rep. Greg Porter (D) said it is a missed opportunity to do more for Hoosiers.

9:45 a.m. – The House is reconvening for votes on SB 1 and SB 2.

Timeline of events – Thursday, Aug. 4

2:50 p.m. – An amendment to remove the exception for fatal fetal anomalies failed

2:24 p.m. – A Democrat Amendment to add the abortion issue to the November ballot failed.

2:03 p.m. – After a contentious debate on Amendment 20 to remove the rape and incest exceptions. The motion failed with a vote of 39 to 61. The majority of the 71 Republicans in the House voted to remove the exceptions.

1:50 p.m. – An amendment changing language to define an abortion exemption in cases of serious medical risk was approved.

1:33 p.m. – The House is considering amendments to the abortion ban bill.

12:30 p.m. – The Senate Tax and Fiscal Police committee passed an amended version of HB1001 with a 10-1 vote. In committee, the bill was stripped and now reads like SB2 (funding to support women) and SB3 (inflationary relief). This comes after the House stripped SB2, to make it read like HB1001.

Timeline of events – Tuesday, Aug. 2

6:10 p.m. – The amended version of Senate Bill 1 passed out of the House Courts and Criminal Code committee by a vote of 8-5. The bill now heads to the full House for consideration.

11:25 a.m. – The Indiana House Ways & Means committee unanimously passed, amended and stripped Senate Bill 2 on to the full House of Representatives. The bill now includes all of the language from House Bill 1001, which focused on the $225 taxpayer refund.

They also stripped out the Hoosier Families First Fund, which would provide $45 million for eligible existing and new programs to address:

Funding to support the health of pregnant mothers
Maternal support services and pregnancy resource centers
Access to contraception
Pregnancy planning, including removing barriers to long-acting reversible contraception
Needs of low-income families with children under 4 years old
Increased access to childcare
Support for foster and adoptive care
Programs to prevent children from entering the DCS system
Funding for Safe Haven Baby Boxes and more.

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