June 30, 2022 | Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
IDS Roe v. Wade overturned The landmark decision protected access to abortion for almost 50 years. Now, Hoosiers are left to wonder what comes next.
State legislators respond to the decision
The Supreme Court's vote By Christina Avery
averycm@iu.edu | @christym_avery
The Supreme Court voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision June 24, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion after almost 50 years. The ruling ends federal protection for abortions, allowing individual states to make their own decisions about abortion access. Roughly half of all states are expected to ban or drastically reduce abortion. Thirteen states are expected to outlaw abortion almost immediately as a result of “trigger laws” meant to prohibit abortion as soon as Roe was overturned. Indiana does not have a trigger law in place. The vote was 6-3 in the decision of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, upholding a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court voted 5-4 to overturn Roe. Back in May, a leaked draft majority opinion voting to overturn Roe was published by Politico. The draft from February was labeled as the opinion of the court. In it, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that Roe was “egregiously wrong from the start” and said the issue of abortion should be handed to the people’s elected representatives. SEE VOTE, PAGE 4
By Nadia Scharf
njscharf@iu.edu | @nadiaascharf
ETHAN MOORE | IDS
Protestors gather in front of Women’s Care Center on June 27, 2022, on College Avenue. The Party for Socialism and Liberation organized the protest and claims the center, which is located next door to Bloomington's Planned Parenthood, is set up to dissuade people from having abortions. Protestors surrounded the building, waiting for its employees to leave work.
In response to the Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that overturned landmark case Roe v. Wade, state legislators representing the IU-Bloomington campus have issued statements opposing the decision. Senator Shelli Yoder, a Democrat representing Indiana Senate District 40, released a statement over email. She stated the decision was not a pro-life victory, but rather that it would cause women to lose their lives as a result of risky or unwanted pregnancies. “Make no mistake,” Yoder said, “this decision is not about preserving lives — it is about controlling them.” Yoder said the decision is part of a larger movement against privacy and civil rights progress. “This ruling forces women of all faiths, races and beliefs across America to legally submit to a narrow, remarkably backwards judgment of their bodily autonomy and societal value,” Yoder said. “It undermines all American aspirations of equality, justice and freedom. If we truly believed in justice, in freeSEE LEGISLATORS, PAGE 4
Community members protest for abortion access By Nadia Scharf
njscharf@iu.edu | @nadiaascharf
“Two, four, six, eight. Separate the church and state.” “I’m a person, not a womb.” “My body, my choice.” Hundreds chanted along to a drumbeat at 3 p.m. Monday outside the Monroe County Courthouse during a protest in support of access to abortion. The protest was organized by the Indianapolis chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and was promoted on social media by local activist groups, including IU Students Against Reproductive Restraints and the Monroe County National Organization for Women. This is PSL’s first protest in Bloomington since the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,
which overturned Roe v. Wade’s precedent. The organization has held multiple protests in Indianapolis since the decision was released on Friday. Speakers at Monday’s protest criticized the Democratic party and President Biden’s response to the decision, calling out inequality in access to abortion alternatives and emphasized the importance of both abortion access and the role of the federal government in supporting abortion rights. “Biden is putting out statements saying that most women in this country are going to be fine after this decision. Most women, because they live in blue states,” one speaker said. “That’s none of us here.” Drivers routinely honked in support of protestors standing along the edge of the courthouse square. Alternatively, some drivers visibly
disagreed with the crowd’s message as they shouted out their windows or raised their middle fingers. One white truck circled the block several times as its occupants shouted “abortion is murder” through a speaker. Protestor Julie Finn attended the protest with her daughter, Sydney Shoemaker. Finn said that she wanted Shoemaker to have the same rights she did when she was younger. “I actually love being here and seeing the solidarity of all the other people here on the courthouse,” Finn said. “And I like seeing prolifers waste gas. Gas is so expensive right now — that’s a choice.” After around 30 minutes at the courthouse, protestors marched down College Avenue toward the Women’s Care Center, a crisis pregnancy center that PSL claims is set
up to dissuade people from having abortions. Protest leaders passed out flyers that said this type of center is set up next to abortion clinics like Planned Parenthood to confuse people seeking abortions. PSL also claimed the center is not licensed as a medical provider and therefore are not bound by HIPAA, meaning they don’t have to maintain confidentiality. Alessandro Morosin played a snare drum to back chants throughout the march. He said he believes abortion-rights organizations need to get more people out, on both a local and state level. “I think we need to become ungovernable,” Morosin said, “because it’s not just Roe v. Wade that they’re coming for. They’re coming for so many human rights, voting rights.” Protestors ranging from grandparents waving signs to children
held by their parents surrounded the center. IU student and protest leader Luke Kubehl climbed onto a post outside the center and raised his voice above the chants of the crowd. “Do you know what this place is?” Kubehl asked. A voice rose from the crowd in response: “A fucking fraud!” Kubehl said that PSL plans to return to the center and pass out flyers throughout the summer. He announced the protest plan — to surround the Women’s Care Center until the employees got off work at 4:30 p.m. — then passed the floor to anyone that wanted to share a message or a personal story. Protestors shared their reasons for supporting access to abortion. One woman said she had gotten an SEE PROTEST, PAGE 2
‘Absolutely gouging the poor’: Prices rise as COVID aid expires By Marissa Meador
marnmead@iu.edu | @marissa_meador
Sky Pemberton drives his father from Bedford to a kidney dialysis center in Paoli four times a week. The center was the closest option that was accepting patients at the time, but he said he still spends $40 a week on gas just for the trips. The two live off of a $1300 a month disability check and other forms of aid, Pemberton said. “And if you start doing numbers on that, with electric and bills, you run out of money pretty quick,” Pemberton said. “Everybody in my neighborhood is in the process of being behind on their house payments.” With prices climbing across the board and pandemic aid programs ending, people on the margins are in crisis, even as others benefit from rapid spending in the economy. For the top 1% of earners, a good financial market led to a $6.5 trillion growth in wealth, and top companies have had their most profitable year since the 1950s. The unemployment rate sits at 3.6% and in 2021, wage growth reached an all-time high of 15.6%. But the cost of food — for
both grocery stores and restaurants — has increased by 9%, ultimately outpacing any lasting wage growth. High demand and low global supply have driven up gasoline prices, which after a small decrease from earlier weeks, averages about $4.90 a gallon in Indiana. Megan Betz, the president and CEO of community resource center Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, has seen strain among patrons as a result of increasing prices. The organization, which provides food and runs advocacy and education programs to members of Bloomington and surrounding communities, serves the most vulnerable populations, according to Betz. In MHC’s 2021 survey, 42% of respondents identified as people with disabilities, and many others have experienced job loss or hours reduction, medical expenses or COVID-19-related illness in their families. “Eight to ninety percent of patrons live well below the poverty line,” Betz said. “They're seeing more job loss and are choosing which bills to cover each month, more than what we’ve seen in previous years.” In an effort to combat inflation, the Federal Reserve
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Guy Benhamou pumps gas at an Exxon Mobil gas station on June 9, 2022, in Houston, Texas. High demand and low global supply have driven up gasoline prices, which after a small decrease from earlier weeks, averages about $4.90 a gallon in Indiana.
hiked interest rates by three quarters of a percentage point June 15, its largest increase since 1994. The goal is to discourage spending, but some economists, including IU economic policy expert David Audretsch, worry it may cause a recession. “We chose to defer the pain,” he said. “Not that was a bad policy, but now it’s coming home to roost.” Audretsch said inflation today reminds him of what he experienced in the 1970s. Even during the inflation and
unemployment of the ‘70s, companies were profiting. According to Audretsch, this same paradox occurred during the Great Depression and is happening again today. Although he thinks there are downsides to the Fed’s decision, Audretsch said it will be successful at reducing inflation. In the meantime, many federal programs that provided aid during the pandemic are now expiring, such as a provision that allowed more people to be eligible
for Medicaid. The provision is set to expire in mid-July. If not extended, many people will have to submit appeals to maintain eligibility. Another form of pandemic aid gave extra money to low-income Hoosiers in the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program. These benefits expired at the end of May, bringing allotment amounts to pre-pandemic levels with a 20% increase in budget for cost-of-living adjustments and other reevaluations.
“Some calls I’ve gotten are like ‘How often can I shop there, because my SNAP budget is going down and I just can’t purchase enough food to make our household work,’” Betz said. MHC launched a direct assistance program this year, which provides $200 dollar VISA cards to cover things like car repairs or minor medical expenses. The program has $3,300 set aside for each quarter, but Betz said SEE PRICES, PAGE 2