Legislation

SB 76, now the primary immigration bill still moving, combines language from the other immigration bills and would expand enforcement by tightening “sanctuary” restrictions, mandating stronger cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), blurring the lines of state and local enforcement, and escalating penalties for anyone who doesn’t comply.

While these bills are framed as protecting faith-based organizations, prospective foster parents, and prospective adoptive parents from “discrimination,” they could prevent the state from making placement decisions based on child safety and welfare.

House Bill 1343, disguised as a routine veteran affairs bill, would expand the Indiana National Guard’s role into civilian law enforcement by establishing a “military police force,” then granting the governor broad authority to activate it with police powers anywhere in the state.

SB 182 targets the transgender community in Indiana in a number of ways. It would impose rigid definitions of “male” and “female” based on reproductive systems – without regard to gender identity. It also prevents Hoosiers from being able to change the sex listed on their birth certificates, unless they have “a medically verifiable disorder of sex development.”

SB 236 would escalate Indiana’s abortion ban by cracking down on abortion-inducing drugs and creating a lawsuit-driven enforcement scheme targeting these medications and those accused of distributing them from outside the state. The bill adds a new chapter to the abortion ban that broadly prohibits manufacturing, distributing, possessing, prescribing, mailing, transporting, delivering, or otherwise providing abortion-inducing drugs to or from anyone in Indiana outside of the state’s narrow exceptions. It specifically covers common abortion-inducing drugs (e.g., mifepristone and misoprostol) as well as off-label use.

As amended, this bill adds the Ten Commandments to the state’s current list of “protected” historical documents, which would allow schools and teachers to post the text or parts of it in classrooms freely.

These bills would make it a crime to camp, sleep, or shelter on public property. They specify that law enforcement officers give anyone who violates this law a warning and offer to transport them to receive services or stay in a shelter. If the person does not move in a specified timeframe, they can be charged with a Class C misdemeanor (48 hours in the case of SB 285, 24 hours in HB 1431).

This bill would create sweeping restrictions against people from countries that have been deemed as “foreign adversaries” by the federal government (including China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia), as well as any other country designated as a threat to critical infrastructure by the governor.

Both of these bills would require social media companies to get parental consent for minors under a certain age to use social media. The age cutoffs differ (age 16 for one, age 14 for the other). They also contain age verification requirements. HB 1178 would require ALL social media users to verify their age, and social media platforms to regularly estimate whether Indiana users are at least 14 years old based on how much time the user spends on the platform. If the company isn’t confident enough, it must treat the user as a minor. HB 1178 would also require social media companies to keep proof of parental consent and disable certain features, including push notifications, reposts, likes, and reactions. While we understand the concerns around minor access to social media and mental health, we oppose these bills because they would violate the First Amendment rights of minors. To be clear, parents already have the right to decide whether their minor children can use social media. The government does not have that right. Some of the provisions in these bills go even further – violating the First Amendment rights of all Hoosiers by requiring them to hand over personal identifying information. No one should have to give up their privacy to participate online.