The 2022 Session Begins

By: Dr. Anne E. Mahady

As the first full week of the 2022 legislative session comes to a close, Women4Change is tracking several bills of interest in five key areas: fair voting and voter access, sexual harassment, assault and consent, equality, women’s health and women’s economic stability. In what follows, we summarize the content and position of the bills in the legislative process:

  • Fair Voting & Voter Access

    • Senate Bill 329 prohibits the expansion of vote by mail and absentee voting. This bill has had a first reading and has been referred to the Senate Elections Committee. In addition, it “[r]equires an applicant for an absentee ballot application to include the applicant's driver's license number and the last four digits of the applicant's Social Security number.”

      • Status: First reading: referred to Committee on Elections

  • Sexual Harassment, Assault and Consent

    • House Bill 1079 defines consent to Indiana laws on sexual assault and provides victims with ability to demonstrate a lack of consent. It further expands existing elements of rape to include rape by impersonation as a specific charge.

      • Status: House Committee report: passed and adopted, headed to the full House

  • Equality

    • Senate Bill 128 extends antidiscrimination protections to LGBTQ+ people, veterans and members of disability communities.

      • Status: Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

  • Women’s Health

    • House Bill 1047 calls for medically accurate sexual health curriculum in the Indiana school system to accord with federal standards.

      • Status: Referred to House Education Committee

    • House Bills 1179 and 1294 establish legal standards for how jails and prisons use restraints on pregnant incarcerated people and create a reporting mechanism to document all occasions where restraints are used in Indiana prisons. 

      • Statuses: referred to House Committee on Courts and Criminal Code

    • House Bill 1162 “[r]equires the department of workforce development (department) to establish a paid family and medical leave program to provide payments for employees who take family and medical leave.”

      • Status: Referred to House Committee on Employment, Labor and Pensions

    • House Joint Resolution 7 seeks to provide “a pre-born child” with the rights established in the Indiana Constitution and the Indiana Code.

      • Status: Referred to House Judiciary Committee

    • Senate Bill 160 defines the phrase “child care desert” and calls for a study on child care deserts in Indiana. 

      • Status: Referred to Senate Family & Children Services Committee

    • Senate Bill 169 creates a sales tax exemption for “feminine hygiene products and products used to manage incontinence.”

      • Status: Referred to Senate Tax and Fiscal Policy Committee

    • Senate Bill 309 requests the general assembly convene an "initiated session" to consider legislation to restrict abortion under the following circumstances: 1) the Supreme Court overrules the core provisions of Roe v. Wade, Doe v. Bolton or Planned Parenthood of Southern Pennsylvania v. Casey, 2) the Supreme Court affirms the 15 week ban in Dobbs v. Jackson or 3) a constitutional amendement prohibiting abortion is adopted.

      • Status: Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

    • Senate Bill 364 requires hospitals with maternity units to provide women who have just given birth with the option to have a subdermal birth control implant after delivery. Hospitals with faith-based objections are exempt. 

      • Status: Referred to Senate Health and Provider Services Committee

    • Senate Bill 399 requires parental consent for all abortion procedures for an unempancipated pregnant minor and “[p]rovides criteria for a juvenile court to consider in determining if a minor is mature enough to make a decision regarding an abortion.”

      • Status: Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

  • Women’s Economic Stability

    • House Bill 1067 requires family services “to continue waiving copays for eligible families'' and urges the legislative council to conduct an impact study on the financial ramifications of eliminating childcare copayments and work requirements for low income families. This study would also identify childcare deserts across Indiana.

      • Status: Referred to Committee on Family, Children and Human Affairs

    • House Bill 1177 prohibits racial discrimination based on the wearing of protective hairstyles including braids, locs and twists and prevents discrimination based on hair texture.

      • Status: Referred to House Education Committee

    • House Bill 1380 makes it unlawful to discriminate, discharge or retaliate against employees because of their sex and prohibits the use of nondisclosure agreements to prevent workers from discussing their wages. 

      • Status: Referred to House Employment, Labor and Pensions Committee

    • Senate Bill 21 calls for the creation of a study on people who have taken paid personal leave from their jobs for the following reasons: family leave, caring for a seriously ill family member, and employee sick leave.

      • Status: Referred to Senate Pensions and Labor Committee

The status of bills changes from week to week. If you’d like to stay up to date with the latest developments, you can follow along to see where these bills are in the process on our 2022 Legislative Tracker .

W4C