The GOP-controlled House voted 60-40 Wednesday in favor of the bill, which had already been approved in the Senate.
Many opponents objected to the way the House went about approving the measure. An earlier version that was passed by the House did not include the ban, which was added in the Senate. Rather than send the bill to committee to negotiate details, GOP House leaders sent it to the floor for a vote, under a procedural maneuver that did not allow lawmakers to make changes.
“It saddens me and makes me sick to my stomach to be up here right now,” Rep. Wendy McNamara, a Republican from Evansville, said during debate. “It’s bills like these that make people like me really hate the system.”
The measure includes other provisions regulating the handling of miscarried or aborted fetuses, requiring abortion providers to cremate or bury fetuses.
It also would make it a felony to transfer fetal tissue, a move aimed at Planned Parenthood after secretly recorded videos showed officials with the organization discussing how they sometimes supply fetal tissue to scientists.
Rep. Sean Eberhart, a Shelbyville Republican who voted against the measure, said he had a long discussion about the bill with his wife, who is about “as pro-life as they come” and decided that he needed to speak out.
“Today is a perfect example a bunch of middle-aged guys sitting in this room making decisions about what we think is best for women,” Eberhart said. “We need to quit pretending we know what’s best for women and their health care needs.”
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