00;00;00;04 - 00;00;13;19 Stephanie Wiechmann Under the long standing state definition of rape, an assault has to include threat or force, serious bodily injury, or involved drugs. When talking about consent, only an act done to a person who can't give consent due to mental disability was included. 00;00;13;25 - 00;00;22;04 Sue Errington Our public policy hasn't evolved the way the general public's thinking about rape is concerned. 00;00;22;08 - 00;00;36;16 Stephanie Wiechmann Since 2019, Muncie Democratic State Representative Sue Errington has authored or coauthored bills to add consent for every person for the past two years, she says. Republican Representative Sharon Negele agreed to be the bill's lead author to better get it through committee hearings. 00;00;36;23 - 00;00;46;28 Sue Errington As a Democrat in a Republican supermajority, it's hard to get your bill through. It can happen, but not very often. 00;00;47;03 - 00;01;12;26 Stephanie Wiechmann This year's bill received broad bipartisan support, with only a handful of no votes on both chamber floors. House Bill 1079 broadens the definition of rape to include any sexual activity done to someone without their permission through words or conduct. One part of the bill was removed as it moved through the General Assembly - rape by deception. The term is based on a 2017 incident at Purdue University, where a man pretended to be someone else to have sex with a fellow student. 00;01;13;01 - 00;01;23;24 Stephanie Wiechmann Though he admitted his actions in court, charges were dismissed because his actions didn't meet Indiana's narrow definition of rape. When asked if she'll file a separate bill on that next session, Errington says. 00;01;23;24 - 00;01;31;14 Sue Errington We'll wait and see what happens in the courtroom, whether there are more cases like the Purdue one and what happens to it. 00;01;31;19 - 00;01;40;08 Stephanie Wiechmann Errington says she and Negele are considering next asking to broaden the definition of sexual battery. In Muncie, Stephanie Wiechmann, IPR news.