Indiana abortion clinics see patients amid legal changes

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dr. Jeanne Corwin traveled about two hours on Friday from her hometown of Cincinnati to an Indianapolis abortion clinic, where she saw the clinic's first 12 patients the day after an Indiana judge blocked the state's abortion ban from being enforced.

It's a trip Corwin has made several times over the past few months, as her Ohio medical license allows her to sign off on required paperwork for Women's Med patients in Indiana to access care in the clinic's sister location in Dayton.

But with Indiana's abortion ban temporarily on hold — paired with a judge's Sept. 14 blocking of an Ohio ban on nearly all abortions — Women's Med and other Indiana abortion clinics resumed seeing patients on Friday while anticipating further change amid mercurial abortion access in the country following the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

“It’s a glimmer of hope and common sense,” Corwin said of Thursday’s ruling blocking Indiana’s abortion ban.

One patient who went to the clinic on Friday was an Indianapolis woman who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity due to privacy concerns. It was for the 31-year-old’s second abortion, she said. Her first was at 16, when she was afraid of caring for a child and worried what her parents would think about her being pregnant.

“At the time, I felt like I was too young to have a child,” the patient said. “I can’t even imagine what life would be like now.”

Now focused on a career and with a son she had at 25, the patient said she chose an abortion because she and her partner decided another child would not be best for them right now.

Hours after Owen County Judge Kelsey Hanlon on Thursday issued a preliminary injunction against Indiana’s abortion ban, the state filed a promised appeal...