New Indiana Abortion Law

New Indiana Abortion Law

Emma Spencer

NUVO editors came together to summarize some of the work they have been doing on Indiana’s new abortion law. This article is an activist piece that clearly stands against this recent decision. The article is framed by the clear statement they are making even within the title and subtitle of this piece “Indiana’s New Abortion Law and its Terrible Toll on Women’s Rights” the subtitle reads “After Pence signed HEA 1337, women’s rights in Indiana are dead”. There is no way around seeing the clear point of view this publication is coming from. Immediately after the title is a photograph of wilted flowers and well the “R.I.P.” in bold letters. Within this piece the editorial stance of the publication as a whole is summarize saying that this law “does not protect the interests of pro-choice or anti-choice women”. The overall language of this article takes a clear stance on the issue. Finally the piece links all of the other work that NUVO has done on the issue, including a collection of personal stories of women, which shows again the position of the public within this situation and furthers their stance.

NPR also reported on this issue in their article entitled “Indiana Governor Signs New Abortion Restriction into Law”. NPR being a major news corporation takes a much more “objective” stance of this issue than its activist counterparts. The title itself only factually describes the instance at hand. The article begins with a brief description of the law and what its purpose is. They then quote Pence, the governor of Indiana, followed directly with a quote explaining that some anti-abortion lawmakers “thought the legislation was a step too far”. NPR continues within this pattern, explaining the opinion of the supporters of the bill and then countering with the opinion of the head of Planned Parenthood of Indiana. Using these particular sources back and forth create an article that sheds light to both sides of the argument, as opposed to the piece described previously.

Huffington Post also reported on this issue in their article “New Indiana Law Makes Getting an Abortion Near Impossible”. Huffington post takes a slightly different frame than the previous articles. The title although not directly stating an opinion also doesn’t have the more factual effect that the NPR headline did. Huffington post looks at this issue by pulling out particular parts of the new law as opposed to summarizing the entire event. They get opinions from experts much like the previous articles, however unlike NPR the opinions are almost always in disagreement with the new law and the particular issues within the bill.