Trs. of Ind. Univ. v. Prosecutor of Marion Cnty. Ind., 1:16–cv–01289–JMS–DML
| Citation | 289 F.Supp.3d 905 |
| Decision Date | 19 January 2018 |
| Docket Number | No. 1:16–cv–01289–JMS–DML,1:16–cv–01289–JMS–DML |
| Parties | The TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY, Fred H. Cate and its research faculty, Dr. Bruce Lamb, and Dr. Debomoy Lahiri, Plaintiffs, v. PROSECUTOR OF MARION COUNTY INDIANA in his official capacity, Prosecutor of Monroe County Indiana in his official capacity, Defendants. |
| Court | United States District Courts. 7th Circuit. United States District Court (Southern District of Indiana) |
Anne Kramer Ricchiuto, Anthony Scott Chinn, Juliana Yanez, Stephanie L. Boxell, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, Indianapolis, IN, for Plaintiffs.
Fred Anthony Paganelli, Raegan Mackenzie Gibson, Paganelli Law Group, Indianapolis, IN, John J. Bursch, Pro Hac Vice, Bursch Law PLLC, Kevin G. Dougherty, Warner Norcross & Judd LLP, Grand Rapids, MI, for Defendants.
AMENDED ORDER 1
This case is the latest in a series of challenges to various statutory provisions that were enacted as part of House Enrolled Act 1337. This Act codified a number of abortion-related provisions, some civil and some criminal. In this action, Plaintiffs the Trustees of Indiana University, Fred Cate, Dr. Bruce Lamb, and Dr. Debomoy Lahiri (collectively "IU") challenge a provision that criminalizes the acquisition, receipt, sale, and transfer of aborted fetal tissue. IU moves for summary judgment, arguing that the provision violates the United States Constitution, based on five different constitutional challenges. Defendants, the prosecutors of Marion and Monroe counties, cross-move for summary judgment, contending that the statute does not offend the Constitution. Also pending before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Oral Argument regarding the cross-motions for summary judgment. [Filing No. 80.] For the reasons described below, the Court concludes that the provision violates the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. It therefore grants in part IU's Motion for Summary Judgment. [Filing No. 77.] Having concluded that the Court can resolve the summary judgment motions based on the parties' briefing, the Court denies Defendants' Motion for Oral Argument. [Filing No. 80.]
Indiana University, its School of Medicine, and various Research Institutes housed at IU conduct scientific research into Alzheimer's disease
and other disorders.2 [Filing No. 77–3 at 6; Filing No. 77–4 at 4–5.] IU's Alzheimer's Disease Center ("the Center") receives funding from the National Institutes of Health ("NIH") to advance research into Alzheimer's disease. [Filing No. 77–3 at 20.] The Center is supported by and overlaps with IU's Stark Neurosciences Research Institute ("the Stark Institute"), which is an interdepartmental research institute with ongoing research into Alzheimer's disease and other disorders. [Filing No. 77–4 at 4–5; Filing No. 77–4 at 22.] Plaintiff Bruce Lamb is the Director of the Stark Institute. [Filing No. 77–4 at 4–5; Filing No. 77–4 at 22.] IU's School of Medicine also houses the National Cell Repository for Alzheimer's disease. [Filing No. 77–3
at 12.] IU also hosts an NIH-funded Vector Production Facility ("VPF"), which creates cell line vectors. [Filing No. 77–2 at 2.]
Plaintiff Debomoy Lahiri is a tenured professor in the IU School of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry, a member of the Stark Institute, and an executive committee member of the Center. [Filing No. 77–5 at 1; Filing No. 77–6 at 25; Filing No. 77–1 at 6.] Dr. Lahiri conducts research on brain disorders
, including dementia and Alzheimer's disease. [Filing No. 77–5 at 2.] He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Current Alzheimer's Research, [Filing No. 77–5 at 3 ], and he has authored or contributed to over 300 publications, [Filing
]. Dr. Lahiri began using fetal tissue in his research on or about July 14, 2011. [Filing No. 77–5 at 6; Filing No. 77–6 at 2–3.] He uses fetal tissue because it contains all of the components of the fetal brain, such as neurons, astrocytes, microglia, and blood vessels, and because healthy fetal brain tissue serves as a "control" to understand how a diseased brain differs from a healthy one. [Filing No. 77–6 at 17; Filing No. 77–8 at 11; Filing No. 77–5 at 8.]
IU obtains fetal tissue for Dr. Lahiri's research from the Birth Defects Research Lab ("BDRL") at the University of Washington, and it has received approximately 25 shipments of fetal tissue from BDRL. [Filing No. 77–5 at 4; Filing No. 77–5 at 14; Filing No. 77–6 at 4.] IU pays BDRL $200 per shipment to cover the shipping and handling costs associated with obtaining the tissue; there are no additional costs. [Filing No. 77–5 at 15; Filing No. 79–2 at 17.] BDRL does not provide intact organs—instead, it sends tissue from organs, such as brains, livers, and kidneys. [Filing No. 77–5 at 3.] The amount of tissue per shipment that IU receives is small enough to be contained within roughly two teaspoons of liquid media. [Filing No. 77–5 at 15.]
After receiving a shipment of tissue from BDRL, Dr. Lahiri cuts the tissue into very small pieces. [Filing No. 77–6 at 5.] To that tissue, he adds an enzyme that dissociates, or breaks apart, the tissue's cells. [Filing No. 77–6 at 5.] He then places that mixture into a centrifuge, in order to separate the cells from "debris." [Filing No. 77–6 at 5–6.] Debris includes cells that did not successfully dissociate, as well materials such as cell membranes and tissue walls. [Filing No. 77–6 at 5–6.] The debris is discarded, and the remaining cells are classified and their viability determined. [Filing No. 77–6 at 6.] The viable cells of the desired types are plated in dishes containing different types of media, where they grow and divide for days or weeks. [Filing No. 77–6 at 6.] Dr. Lahiri then performs his research using those cells. [Filing No. 77–6 at 7.] Dr. Lahiri stores the molecules derived from his cultures in a freezer for reuse. [Filing No. 77–5 at 18.]
Researchers at IU also perform research using "cell lines" that have been derived from fetal tissue. [Filing No. 77–2 at 2.] When cells are plated, they may continue to grow and divide over a period of time. Cells multiply by division, and when a cell divides, it gives rise to two "daughter" cells. [Filing No. 77–8 at 7.] Those cells continue to grow and divide in the plates in which they have been placed, until they become "confluent," or evenly coat the surface of the dish such that no more cells can grow. [Filing No. 77–8 at 6.] At that point, the cells are transferred to a bigger dish or multiple dishes (or half of the cells are discarded) in order to create more room for the cells to continue to divide. [Filing No. 77–8 at 6.] This transfer process is referred to as a "passage," and researchers track the number of passages that a group of cells has undergone. [Filing No. 77–8 at 6.] In each passage, some cells will fail to divide, and will proceed intact to the next passage. [Filing No. 77–8 at 22.] Cell lines within the early series of passages are commonly referred to as "primary cell lines." [Filing No. 77–8 at 6.]
Some cells continue to divide after multiple passages, and if they are continuously cultivated, those cells eventually become known as "established" or "immortalized" cell lines, which can "be passaged more or less indefinitely." [Filing No. 77–8 at 5–6.] Established cell lines can be purchased from commercial sources or acquired from not-for-profit cell line banks, and they are used for a variety of purposes and passed from lab to lab. [Filing No. 77–8 at 5; Filing No. 77–7 at 4.] A cell line known as HEK 293 is an example of such a commercially available, established cell line, and is used by researchers at IU. [Filing No. 77–8 at 5; Filing No. 77–1 at 15.] HEK 293 originated in 1972, and the owner of that cell line represents that it was derived from an aborted fetus. [Filing No. 77–1 at 5–6.] It is used for a variety of research purposes, and is one of the most widely used cell lines in the world. [Filing No. 77–1 at 6; Filing No. 77–1 at 15.]
Researchers at IU also extract, use, and store components of cells—known as biologics or biologicals—such as DNA, RNA, and proteins. [Filing No. 77–3 at 8–9.] Many of those materials are stored indefinitely in freezers on IU's campuses. [Filing No. 77–4 at 9.]
On March 24, 2016, House Enrolled Act 1337 was signed into law, becoming effective on July 1, 2016. Among other provisions, that Act codified a subsection entitled "Unlawful transfer of fetal tissue; unlawful collection of fetal tissue." Ind. Code § 35–46–5–1.5. That section, in its entirety, reads as follows:
Ind. Code § 35–46–5–1.5. Indiana Code Section 35–50–2–6(b) provides that
On May 25, 2016, IU filed a Complaint in this Court against the prosecutors of Marion and Monroe counties, alleging that Indiana Code § 35–46–5–1.5 violates the constitutions of the United States and the State of Indiana. [Filing No. 1.] IU filed the...
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