A judge will determine whether the Indiana Department of Health is permitted to publish reports of terminated pregnancies

Indianapolis, Indiana – In the near future, a Marion County court will have to determine whether to prevent the Indiana Department of Health from making abortion records publicly available.

Two abortion providers, Caitlin Bernard and Caroline Rouse, filed a lawsuit to stop the release of Termination of Pregnancy Reports (TPRs), and the Marion Superior Court heard arguments in an emergency hearing Tuesday afternoon. Both Rouse and Bernard hold OBGYN medical licenses.
After IDOH reached a deal with the anti-abortion group Voices for Life on February 4, this is the most recent development in a legal struggle over the public publication of abortion records throughout the Hoosier State. IDOH was charged by Voices for Life of failing to make abortion records publicly available, in violation of the state’s Access to Public Records Act.

The case was brought in May 2024 by the Chicago-based law firm Thomas More Society on behalf of the anti-abortion group. Since 2022, the pro-life group has pushed for the public publication of TPRs as part of a larger initiative to ensure that medical personnel “comply with Indiana laws protecting the unborn.”

As a result of the settlement, IDOH is now required to make public the records of specific abortions carried out throughout Indiana, with patient identities protected by redactions.

Bernard and Rouse contend, however, that making those information public would jeopardize the confidentiality of their medical treatment and private health choices.

The Associated Press claims that although the reports may include information about a patient’s zip code, county of residence, medical history, and demographics, they do not identify any specific patients. The type of procedure, the stated cause for the abortion, the name of the doctor, and the date of the procedure are also included in the reports.

In order to prevent the health department from releasing the TPRs, the doctors asked the judge to issue a temporary restraining order.

The state’s lawyers and Voices for Life responded to this motion. Using the arguments that there is “no harm at all” to doctors or patients and that the reports are not medical records because the patient names would be redacted, they urged the judge to reject the restraining order.

Redactions would be made to safeguard patient identity, according to Attorney General Todd Rokita, who has previously commented on the contentious issue. According to Rokita, the reports are not considered medical records, and without their availability, “there is no effective way” for him or other officials to make sure medical personnel are abiding with Indiana law.
According to the Associated Press, IDOH replied to Rokita by stating that TPRs shouldn’t be considered public records, citing an unofficial opinion from an open records authority.

Up until 2023, when it claimed that it could no longer share this information to prevent violating patient confidentiality rules, health officials had initially obliged with Voice of Life’s demands for access to TPRs.

After Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, the state implemented an almost complete abortion prohibition, which resulted in a sharp drop in the overall number of abortions. Following the contentious decision that eliminated federal abortion safeguards, Indiana was among the first states to enact stronger abortion restrictions.

In an effort to preserve patient privacy, IDOH formally decided to cease publishing individual reports since abortions were being carried out under more stringent guidelines. Rather, four times a year, the department published its usual summary data.

There were just a few exceptions to Indiana’s abortion statute for people who wanted to get one over state lines: in situations of rape or incest, if the mother’s life was in danger, or for fetal abnormalities.

The Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist was previously involved in a legal dispute with Bernard when the Indiana Medical Licensing Board fined the physician for breaching patient privacy rules. Bernard’s public remarks regarding an abortion she had performed on a 10-year-old who had been raped in Ohio were at the heart of this controversy.

After neglecting to disclose the child’s maltreatment, Rokita formally complained against her, claiming that she had broken the state’s patient privacy regulations. Bernard and her lawyers refuted these allegations, claiming that she did disclose the abortion on July 2, 2022, to the Indiana Department of Child Services and that she did so within the state’s three-day limit.
All of this is in accordance with Executive Order 25-20, which was signed on January 21 by Indiana Governor Mike Braun and mandates that individual reports on abortion be made public.