INDIANAPOLIS (Feb. 3, 2025) — A new analysis from The College Fix shows no evidence that Indiana’s 2022 pro‑life law (Enrolled Senate Act 1) harmed Indiana University’s OB/GYN residency program, despite public claims from an IU professor that the law would deter applicants. In fact, IU’s own records show applicant numbers increased after the law passed.
According to documents obtained through a public records request, IU received 16 OB/GYN residency applications in 2021 (before the law) and 30 in 2022, the year the law took effect. Applicant interest remained steady through 2025. Per IU’s own data, the highest number of applicants in any year was 30, not the 120 the professor previously claimed in media interviews.
The current OB/GYN resident class includes graduates from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois—states where abortion remains legal—undercutting the argument that pro‑life protections would repel candidates from pro‑abortion states.
Medical experts also disputed the professor’s warnings. The American Association of Pro‑Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists called the professor’s claim “egregious,” emphasizing that medical students enter the field to care for mothers and babies, not to perform abortions.
Indiana Right to Life President Mike Fichter noted that only a small percentage of OB/GYNs perform abortions and that predictions of recruitment collapse in pro‑life states “were never valid.”
A 2025 study co‑authored by the IU professor was also cited, but it surveyed only 17 of more than 300 OB/GYN residency programs nationwide and found that applications declined across all states, not just in pro‑life states.
Taken together, the data and expert analysis show no measurable harm to IU’s OB/GYN program following Indiana’s pro‑life law—and provide no evidence to support claims that protecting unborn children would weaken medical education or recruitment in the state.
To read the new analysis, visit The College Fix article online.
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