3/4/2022 Session Update

By: Dr. Anne E. Mahady

We are celebrating the passage of House Bill 1079 as the bill heads to the governor's desk for his signature. This victory represents the culmination of three years of advocacy work to ensure that the Indiana sexual assault policy defines consent. 

We're also happy to report that Senate Bill 155, which strengthens human trafficking protections, has been signed by the President Pro Tempore. We're also anticipating forward movement on House Bill 1137, which extends the amount of time protective orders are in effect for domestic violence survivors and survivors of other sex crimes. In addition to these, we've learned that the House has concurred on Senate amendments for House Bill 1294, which restricts the use of restraints on pregnant incarcerated people and creates a reporting mechanism to document all occasions where restraints are used in Indiana prisons. The passage of House Bill 1140 constitutes a final major victory for women in Indiana during this legislative session. As advocates for similar legislation have expressed previously, expansions to the Medicaid eligibility requirements and postpartum coverage are needed in Indiana- especially for Hoosier families with low household incomes.

Throughout the session, we provided opposing testimony on bills that aimed to restrict womens' medical and civil liberties. We testified against House Bill 1041, which excludes trans women and girls from school sports teams and places noncompliant schools at risk of litigation. We also rose in opposition to House Bill 1134, which restricted academic freedom in K-12 classroom discussions of race and gender. This bill died on the Senate floor on Monday. 

To conclude, we followed proposed legislation related to fair voting and voting access. House Bill 1116, which recently passed, will impact how Hoosier voters apply for absentee ballots - requiring them to include their drivers' license numbers or social security numbers on their application forms. Returning to issues related to redistricting, we also tracked the progress of House Bill 1285, which will add further restrictions to the way local political subdivisions conduct their redistricting processes.

Again, we want to thank all of our Action Advocates who have been with us throughout this session, fighting forward for Hoosier women. Your calls, e-mails, and other messages make your voice heard about issues critical for women's health in Indiana. We are excited to see similar levels of engagement about the issues raised by the above bills in the coming weeks.

If you'd like to stay up to date with the latest developments, you can follow along to view active and inactive legislation on our updated 2022 Legislative Tracker or sign up for our member newsletter for regular updates.