Supreme Court affirms injunction on part of Indiana abortion law

May 28 (UPI) -- The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that an injunction against an Indiana law that bars abortions based on race, sex or disability will stand.

The high court issued the decision in Box vs. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky.

The justices agreed on the provision with U.S. Circuit Court Judge William Bauer, who wrote in his opinion last year part of the Indiana law that barred women from seeking abortions "clearly violate" what he describes as "well-established Supreme Court precedent, and are therefore unconstitutional."

The high court, however, affirmed a provision of the Indiana law that requires fetal remains to be interred or cremated -- a mandate inserted into the law in 2016 when Vice President Mike Pence was governor. It was blocked, however, by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That decision is considered a blow to advocates like Planned Parenthood.

Anti-abortion advocates hope Tuesday's ruling foreshadows a decision by the high court on Roe vs. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion in the United States. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas said in an opinion Tuesday abortion is an issue the justices will have to confront at some point.

"Although the court declines to wade into these issues today, we cannot avoid them forever," Thomas wrote. "Having created the constitutional right to an abortion, this court is duty bound to address its scope."

Several states have proposed new bans and other restrictions on abortion in recent months, including Missouri and Alabama, which was crafted as a challenge to Roe vs. Wade.