Enlarge image
Protests in front of the Indiana Statehouse on July 25: The right to abortion is politically highly controversial in the USA
Photo: Lora Olive / ZUMA Wire / IMAGO
Indiana's legislature has passed an almost total ban on abortion.
Indiana is the first state to pass a new law with stricter rules after the Supreme Court's landmark decision on abortion.
It only allows abortions in exceptional cases: after rape, in cases of incest, when the fetus is not viable or when there is a serious health risk for the mother.
The Senate, dominated by the Republican party, approved the law by a vote of 28 to 19 on Friday evening (local time).
It was subsequently signed by Republican Governor Eric Holcomb.
In a statement, Holcomb said it had carefully considered which exemptions should apply.
These would take into account "the unimaginable circumstances that a woman or an unborn child can face."
The law is scheduled to come into force on September 15.
In the United States, for almost 50 years, women had the fundamental right to choose whether to continue or terminate a pregnancy, as the Supreme Court ruled in 1973 in Roe v.
Wade« had judged.
Since then, the US states have only been able to make their own regulations to a limited extent.
Last June, the Supreme Court overturned the 1973 decision, arguing that abortion rights are unconstitutional.
Because it is no longer protected by federal law, states can now enact sweeping restrictions and bans.
Republican-governed US states in particular are now trying to establish restrictive abortion regulations as quickly as possible.
The judgment of the Supreme Court thus also leads to a patchwork of state regulations.
bbr/dpa