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The national legal landscape has become just a little bit brighter for those who have been working tirelessly to help abortion seekers in Republican-controlled areas cross state lines to access abortion care.

Reproductive rights advocates nationwide are hopeful that last week’s decision about an Indiana law by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals could potentially have wide-reaching implications for nationwide efforts to protect patients’ right to access abortion information and enable more health care providers to continue assisting abortion seekers.

In a significant win for abortion rights in the post-Roe U.S., on August 18 the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals struck down an Indiana law that barred abortion providers from helping minors find abortions outside of the state or even sharing information about abortion. This ruling has nationwide implications because it could lead to further free speech protections for those who share abortion information and support travel for abortion seekers.

It has been three years since Indiana’s total abortion ban took effect, outlawing nearly every abortion in the state. For three years, reproductive health providers have been forced to turn away abortion seekers, their hands tied by the state’s draconian ban.

However, reproductive health providers in Indiana, like Planned Parenthood, didn’t just turn people away without support — they did their best to help abortion seekers figure out where they could get an abortion. Abortion is legal in surrounding states, including Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois, the latter of which has fast become a hub for abortion seekers from across the country. After Indiana’s total abortion took effect, the state’s Planned Parenthood continued to provide information about abortion care to abortion seekers, including minors; helped them find a clinic in a neighboring state; and helped minors book an appointment.

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That didn’t sit well with Indiana abortion opponents, who argued that sharing information about abortion with minors is illegal. In 2017, Indiana enacted an “aid-or-assist” law, which bans helping a minor access an abortion without explicit parental consent. That law, coupled with the state’s total abortion ban, emboldened abortion opponents to keep reproductive........

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