(INDIANAPOLIS) – Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears says he won’t prosecute abortion cases, even if legislators make abortion illegal.
Mears has said for months, as speculation built that the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade, that he wouldn’t put his office in between a woman and her doctor. Now that the court has indeed struck down the ruling, he says his position hasn’t changed. He says he’ll focus his office’s resources on violent crime and public safety.
Mears says particularly after the coronavirus pandemic highlighted the critical importance of doctors, he won’t turn around and haul them into court.
Mears says he’s “very aware of the math” at the statehouse, where Republicans hold supermajorities in both the House and Senate, but says it’s important to stand up for women’s rights. He notes it’s still unknown what form an abortion bill will take, but says he’ll lobby the General Assembly to pull back from following through on ban.
Mears calls the court’s decision “profoundly disappointing,” and warns it’ll erode trust between the public and law enforcement.
Abortion isn’t the first issue Mears has refused to pursue. He announced days after taking office in 2019 he would no longer file marijuana possession cases, unless it was in tandem with other charges. Senate Republicans have responded to that policy and his abortion position by advancing a bill allowing the attorney general to prosecute cases if a local prosecutor issues a blanket refusal. The proposal has passed the Senate two years in a row but hasn’t gotten a hearing in the House. Mears argues the proposal is not only bad policy, but probably unconstitutional in infringing on a prosecutor’s discretion.
Mears is seeking election to a full four-year term this fall against Republican Cyndi Carrasco.
