Judge blocks protections for Indiana babies

A federal judge blocked an Indiana law Friday that would have protected babies from dismemberment abortion. U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker, a nominee of President Ronald Reagan, granted the preliminary injunction against the measure hours after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal over a similar Alabama law that lower courts struck down.

The Indiana measure, passed by the state’s Republican-dominated legislature this spring, was set to take effect Monday. It would make it illegal for doctors to use instruments such as clamps, forceps, and scissors to tear apart a baby and remove it from the womb in pieces except to save the mother’s life or prevent serious health risk. Last month, the Supreme Court upheld a separate Indiana law requiring abortion providers to treat aborted babies’ bodies in the same way as other human remains. At that time, the justices let stand a lower court ruling against a provision that protects unborn babies from abortions based on race, gender, or disability.