Indiana Senate passes near-total abortion ban, measure now goes to House

Indiana's GOP-led Senate of Saturday passed a near-total abortion ban – concluding a contentious week of debate over whether to allow exceptions for rape and incest.

The chamber narrowly passed the ban with the minimum 26 votes in a rare weekend session, sending the measure to the House. 

The bill, if passed in the legislature and signed into law, would prohibit abortions from the time a fertilized egg implants in a uterus, according to the Associated Press.

Exceptions would be allowed in cases of rape and incest, but a patient would need a notarized affidavit attesting to the attack, the wire service also reports. 

Indiana is one of the first Republican-led states to debate tighter abortion laws since the Supreme Court last month overturned Roe v. Wade, the court ruling that for decades had establishing a national right to an abortion.