January 28, 2025 // National

ICC Supports Pro-Life, Pro-Family Initiatives at Statehouse

Indiana Catholic Conference

Victoria Arthur

On the heels of the Indiana March for Life, officials with the Indiana Catholic Conference (ICC) are taking steps to support pro-life legislation while calling for a halt to the death penalty in the state.

The ICC – the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Indiana – made its presence felt during the January 22 march and rally in downtown Indianapolis and is backing life-affirming bills that have been introduced in the state Legislature. Now, the ICC is also planning a February 3 news conference at the Statehouse seeking the abolishment of the death penalty, which was recently reinstated in Indiana. 

“All of our efforts tie in nicely with a week of reflection on the dignity of all human life, from conception to natural death,” said Alexander Mingus, the executive director of the ICC, referring to both the Indiana march and the national March for Life, held two days later in Washington, D.C.

These events continue to mark the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide, even following the court’s overturning of the ruling in 2022, which returned the issue of abortion to the states. In Indiana, most unborn lives are now protected from abortion, with exceptions in instances of rape or incest, lethal fetal anomalies, or medical issues endangering the life of the mother.

In this post-Roe landscape, one Indiana lawmaker is attempting to add clarity to the medical complexities surrounding care for pregnant women and their unborn children. House Bill 1325, authored by Representative Joanna King (R-Middlebury), would require the Indiana Department of Health to create a video for physicians concerning the state’s abortion laws and the standard of care for treating pregnant women with life-threatening conditions.

“We often hear that with the new abortion laws, it makes it impossible for women to get the care they need because physicians fear that what they’re doing will be called an abortion,” Mingus said. “Having this extra education should offer reassurance that physicians can treat a woman having a miscarriage or care for a mother whose life is at risk while recognizing that, as the billboards from Right to Life say, we want to ‘love them both.’ We care about the life of the mother and the life of her baby.

“Sometimes you can’t save both, and that’s tragic. But the state is saying that doctors don’t have to be afraid to care for women, and we think this clarity can be very helpful.”

The bill is currently awaiting a hearing.

Another measure recently introduced in the legislature would offer families a tax credit for newborn babies, including those who are adopted. Senate Bill 497, authored by Senator Greg Walker (R-Columbus), would allow parents to claim a $500 refundable credit within their child’s first year to help with the costs of adding a member to their family.

“The newborn or new dependent tax credit increase would help growing families settle into their new normal after welcoming a child into their lives,” Walker said. “We want to support new families in Indiana, and this is a great step in the right direction.”

The ICC strongly supports the bill as both a life-affirming measure and a way to assist families, especially those struggling financially.

“It’s a way for the state to say, ‘We value the lives of newborn children, and we value families raising children,’” Mingus said. “This proposed legislation also acknowledges that there are many financial hardships for young families, and this is a small way of helping to relieve some of that.

“Particularly for moderate-income and lower-income Hoosiers, we think about the Catholic Church’s articulation of the preferential option for the poor,” he continued. “We believe this is a good pro-family policy.”

Other advocates agree.

“Whatever part of the state we live in, whatever our home or background or religion, one of our deepest values is the ability to provide security and opportunity for our families,” said Erin Macey, director of the Indiana Community Action Poverty Institute and a longtime ally of the ICC on numerous issues. “In each young Hoosier, we see potential and an unwritten story. These are our future innovators and entrepreneurs, neighbors and leaders.”

Speaking at a January 16 news conference at the Statehouse entitled “Babies in the Budget,” Macey encouraged lawmakers during this budget-year legislative session to focus on the youngest and most vulnerable in the state.

“Our purpose here today is to issue a call to ‘start at the beginning’: Please hold our youngest Hoosiers and their families in your minds and in your policymaking,” she said.

The ICC, which served as a co-sponsor of that news conference, is now spearheading its own media briefing at the Statehouse. On Monday, February 3, the ICC is inviting faith leaders, legislators, and other advocates to join in calling for an end to the death penalty in Indiana.

Indianapolis Archbishop Charles C. Thompson and Bishop Robert J. McClory of the Diocese of Gary are among those scheduled to speak at the 3 p.m. news conference that day.

“We continue to have conversations with legislators about how the death penalty is a pro-life issue, and how we advocate for life from conception to natural death,” said Roarke LaCoursiere, associate director of the ICC. “During our upcoming press conference, we will emphasize that the death penalty is both a matter of faith and a matter of being pro-life.”

LaCoursiere, who engaged with numerous visitors to the ICC booth during the Indiana March for Life, reflected on the pro-life passion that she witnessed, particularly among high school and college students.

“I’d been to the Washington, D.C., March for Life, but it was my first time experiencing the march in Indiana,” said LaCoursiere, who joined the ICC in September. “I really appreciated how many schools allowed students to take a day off to come and pray with the bishops who were able to be there and go around to all the tables, including ours, and learn about what the state of Indiana is doing to build a culture of life.

“The youth of the Church and our state being so excited and willing to band together and stand up for life touches me,” she continued. “It reminds me of all the ways my hometown parish and family helped me get involved with the values of my faith when I was in high school and college. Those core memories of being one with the Church led me to where I am today with a career advocating for the Church and state.”

To follow priority legislation of the ICC, visit indianacc.org. This website includes access to ICAN, the Indiana Catholic Action Network, which offers the Church’s position on key issues. Those who sign up for ICAN receive alerts on legislation moving forward and ways to contact their elected representatives.