Halls outside the Senate chamber where #abortion hearing is taking place are jammed with protesters. Chanting is audible in chamber.
Sen. Sue Glick (R-LaGrange) predicts amendments and discussion of possible criminal penalties. Abortion opponents have objected to the lack of enforcement provisions.
Testimony has begun. First witness is a woman raped twice as a teenager, urging legislators not to minimize the trauma accompanying sexual assault.
The committee has scheduled up to four hours of testimony today. Panel plans to debate a first round of amendments tomorrow and vote on sending bill to the full Senate, after up to three hours of additional testimony.
Trend is becoming apparent in testimony, and looks a lot like last year’s debate on vaccine mandates: doctors (one so far, with more to come) oppose the ban as too restrictive , while #abortion opponents also oppose it because it includes exceptions. They want a complete ban.
Anti-abortion witness, calling for complete ban (and opposing the current bill as too loose), references the still-loud bill opponents chanting outside: “I hear the bloodlust in their voices.”
Second doctor testifying, as expected, echoes the first in opposing bill. Mary Abernathy says she worries fellow ob/gyns will shy away from performing even abortions permitted under the ban, for fear of legal second-guessing.
Republicans on committee have yet to ask a question of witnesses. Democrats have had several, particularly for the two doctors so far.
Dr. Dan Elliott with the American College of Emergency Physicians says his organization is neutral on the bill, as long as current language creating exceptions to prevent "permanent impairment" of the mother's life remains part of it.
There are hours of testimony ahead, but so far no one has testified in favor of the bill. Most witnesses so far have been abortion opponents who want to remove all exceptions.
There has been a lot of theological debate -- not even about abortion -- between abortion opponents and Democratic senators.
Picking up on that theme, Rabbi Aaron Spiegel, representing the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council, says the JCRC opposes the bill as an attempt to impose one religious viewpoint on all.
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Nearly all of the 40 #INLegis Democrats are meeting with @VP at the Indiana State Library to discuss the #abortion bill. First Senate hearing is this afternoon.
.@VP Harris: #INLegis “on the front lines of one of the most critical issues in America today.”
Harris: Dobbs ruling “has already created a health care crisis in America….We are seeing many states attempting to criminalize heath care providers.”
2,839 new Indiana #coronavirus cases, with 9.4% of today's batch of tests positive. The 7-day positivity rate, which runs a week behind, continues a two-week plunge to 18.3%, still in @StateHealthIN's high-risk zone but lowest since Jan 3. Cases are down 60% from last week.
108 newly reported Indiana #coronavirus deaths, half from the last week but with five dating back to 2021. The death toll rises to 21,299. IDH has also identified one more presumptive #COVID19 death, for a total toll of 22,137.
Indiana #COVID19 hospitalizations drop below 2,000 for the first time since Nov 27 (and lowest since two days before that), at 1,932, down 104 from yesterday. Of those, 392 are in intensive care, 25 fewer than yesterday and fewest since Nov 21. The state has 300 open ICU beds.
All 92 counties are now rated red (high risk) on @StateHealthIN's weekly risk score.
16,502 new Indiana #coronavirus cases, 2nd-highest total ever, but 3rd week-over-week drop in 5 days.
24.3% of today's batch of tests were positive. The 7-day positivity rate, which runs a week behind, holds steady at a record 30%. It's the 1st time since Dec 26 it hasn't risen.
118 newly reported Indiana #COVID19 deaths, all but 13 in the last five days (but with one late report from 2021), push the death toll to 19,761. IDH has retracted three presumptive #COVID deaths, for a total toll of 20,500.
Debate begins in Indiana House on final vote on bill limiting employer #vaccinemandates.
House Majority Leader Matt Lehman: "This bill is not about the vaccine itself; it's about the people affected" by mandates. #INLegis
Lehman points to nurses who testified they fear getting fired for being unvaxed, after working for 9 months of pandemic before #vaccine became available.
Last week's #SCOTUS ruling means those nurses aren't affected by this bill; they're still required to get vaxed or get fired.
710 Hoosiers are in ICU with #COVID19, one fewer than yesterday and the fourth straight drop, but a jump in non-#COVID patients drops the number of open Indiana ICU beds to 218. Overall, 3,460 Hoosiers are hospitalized with COVID, 97 more than yesterday after a three-day decline.
12,126 new Indiana #coronavirus cases, with 25% of today's batch of tests coming back positive. The 7-day positivity rate, which runs a week behind, sets a 15th straight record at 30%.
77 newly reported Indiana #coronavirus deaths, all in the last week; this is the first @StateHealthIN report with no belated reports from 2021 (though there could be more later). The 2-year death toll rises to 19,643; counting presumptive #COVID19 deaths, the total is 20,385.
9,870 new Indiana #COVID19 cases, with 28.3% of today's batch of tests positive...but two of the last three days have been lower than the week before, for the first time since Dec 27. Cases for the week are still up 8% from a week before.
The 7-day positivity rate, which runs a week behind, sets a 14th straight record at 29.7%.
Indiana hospitals now have <2K staffable ICU beds, but a sharp drop in ICU patients (both #COVID and non-#COVID) means 252 of them are open, most in a week. 711 COVID patients are in ICU, 1 fewer than yesterday & fewest since Dec 11. Total hospitalized = 3,363, fewest in 10 days.