Update (Feb. 21, 2025)
Officials with the Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest, Hawaiʻi, Alaska, Indiana and Kentucky, released the following statement regarding the temporary restraining order:
“Judge Joven’s decision to provide a temporary restraining order against the release of private medical information is exactly the kind of legal safeguard we need in an environment that’s growing more hostile by the day under Indiana’s near-total abortion ban. The minute we allow personal health information to be trotted out for public scrutiny, we’re undercutting the trust that makes our health care system work. This ruling says loud and clear that privacy still matters and that we won’t let private medical decisions become fodder for political agendas—and that’s something worth championing. Planned Parenthood remains committed to restoring and increasing abortion access in Indiana, no matter what. ”
Original Story:
INDIANAPOLIS — After a Wednesday afternoon ruling from the Marion County Superior Court, the Indiana Department of Health is now blocked from publicly releasing terminated pregnancy reports for at least 10 days.
This temporary restraining order was the result of an emergency hearing that occurred earlier this month after two Indiana OB-GYNS, Caitlin Bernard and Caroline Rouse, filed a lawsuit to prevent the release of TPRs.
“While this temporary restraining order is in effect, the Indiana State Health Commissioner, in her official capacity as director of the Indiana Department of Health, and her employees, agents and successors in office,” the order reads, “are prohibited from disclosing or otherwise providing access to terminated pregnancy reports… in response to any request made under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act.”
According to previous reports, the Indiana Department of Health reached a settlement with Voices for Life, an anti-abortion group, after the group accused the department of violating state public records laws for failing to release TPRs. The settlement allowed the department to release redacted reports, not including identifying information about the patients.
TPRs are required to be submitted for every abortion conducted in the state of Indiana. According to a news release from the Lawyering Project, the team representing both Bernard and Rouse, the reports include more than 30 data points, including:
- Patient’s age, county and state of residence
- Patient’s marital status
- Patient’s race and ethnicity
- Details about the patient’s medical history and circumstances of their abortion
However, after this settlement was reached, Bernard and Rouse filed the lawsuit, arguing because of the lack of procedures in the state of Indiana, data from TPRs could be used to identify patients.
Indiana’s abortion law was implemented in August 2023. According to previous reports, the state prohibits all abortions in the state except for three exceptions:
- When reasonable medical judgment dictates that performing the abortion is necessary to prevent death or a serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function, or the “health or life exception.”
- When the pregnant person receives a diagnosis of a lethal fetal anomaly
- When the pregnant person is a victim of rape or incest.
The department stopped releasing individual reports in 2024, but instead released summary data quarterly regarding the procedures conducted in the state. During the first three quarters of 2024, 113 people were reported to have legal abortions in the state of Indiana.
In the temporary restraining order filed in Marion County Court on Wednesday, Marion County Judge James Joven said the counsel for the department “could not specify the information the Department would redact and protect from release as a confidential medical record.”
“At this time, the court is not satisfied that the department’s release of a redacted TPR would not result in a violation of (state public records laws),” the order read.
The order said if Voices for Life has access to the TPRs, the organization would be “free to publicize” the reports, which the court stressed could not be adequately remedied through monetary damages. After the initial 10 days, the order reads it could be extended “for good cause.”
“We are grateful to see that, for now, our patients’ privacy is protected,” Bernard and Rouse said in a joint statement provided to FOX59/CBS4. “We hope that the court will continue to prevent the unnecessary release of people’s personal health information, which puts both physicians and patients in jeopardy for simply providing and receiving needed healthcare.”
According to previous reports, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun signed an executive order in late January, requiring the Indiana Department of Health to “ensure compliance with state pro-life laws,” including reporting on terminated pregnancies.
