Indiana Becomes 19th State to Ban Ranked-Choice Voting

On Feb. 24, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun (R) signed legislation prohibiting the use of ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the state, making it the 19th state to do so.

On Jan. 20, the legislation passed the Indiana Senate 38-9. Thirty-seven Republicans and one Democrat voted in favor of it, and nine Democrats voted against it. On Feb. 17, it passed the Indiana House of Representatives 58-30. Fifty-eight Republicans voted in favor of it, and 28 Democrats and two Republicans voted against it.

The prohibition on RCV in Indiana takes effect on July 1. No municipalities in the state currently use RCV. In 2020, in lieu of a convention, the Indiana Republican Party held a mail-in, RCV contest for lieutenant governor and attorney general nominations due to the coronavirus pandemic. ...

Current Indiana Legislation Prohibits Males in K through 12 from Participating in Female Sports

Indiana lawmakers are looking to expand an existing law that would restrict men from participating in women's sports at the collegiate level.

House Bill 1041 currently requires sports teams from kindergarten to grade 12 to be designated as male, female, or coed/mixed. Additionally, it "prohibits a male, based on the student's biological sex at birth in accordance with the student's genetics and reproductive biology, from participating on an athletic team or sport designated as being a female, women's, or girls' athletic team or sport."

Republican state Reps. Michelle Davis, Chris Jeter, Joanna King, and Robert Heaton are seeking to expand the bill to college athletics in 2025, which would also require any out-of-state schools playing in Indiana to notify their opponents if they have transgender athletes on their teams.

Indiana US Senator Mike Braun, Joins Florida US Senator Marco Rubio, to Question Pfizer's Position on Medically Assisted Suicide

PRESS RELEASE 02/28/24 

A recent report exposed Pfizer’s financial assistance to Dying with Dignity Canada (DWDC), raising questions about its stance on assisted suicide. DWDC has pushed to expand the eligibility for “medically assisted death” to children as young as 12 years old. Pfizer’s support for DWDC raises concerns that it is complicit in prematurely ending lives. 

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) [pictured here] and colleagues sent a letter to Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla regarding Pfizer’s donations to DWDC, and the company’s stance on “medically assisted death.” 

Indiana Resolution Opposing Assisted Suicide Passes in Committee

 Alex Schadenberg, 

Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Indiana Resolution 17 titled: A Concurrent Resolution opposing and condemning assisted suicide passed on Wednesday February 29 [2024] passed on the Indiana Senate Committee on Health and Provider Services by a vote of 9 to 2. The following is the wording of the resolution:

Whereas, The State of Indiana has an unqualified interest in the preservation of human life and the State's prohibition on assisting suicide in IC 35-42-1-2.5 both reflects and advances its commitment to the State's interest;

HB 1011 Dead

Per the Patients Rights Action Fund, Indiana bill, HB 1011, is dead for the season and will not carry over to the new year.

House Concurrent Resolution No. 19, Opposing Assisted Suicide

To view the entire document, click here.

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, the Senate concurring: 

SECTION 1. That the Indiana General Assembly strongly opposes and condemns assisted medical suicide because the Indiana General Assembly has an unqualified interest in the preservation of human life. 

SECTION 2. That the Indiana General Assembly strongly opposes and condemns assisted medical suicide because anything less than a prohibition leads to foreseeable abuses and eventually to euthanasia by devaluing human life, particularly the lives of the terminally ill, elderly, disabled, and depressed whose lives are of no less value or quality than any other citizen of this state. 

Session Adjourns With No Further Action Regarding Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

The Indiana 2020 regular session adjourned on March 14 with no further action on House Bill HB1020 and Senate Bill SB446, proposing to prohibit assisted suicide and euthanasia.