Pro-life group files lawsuit against IDOH for access to abortion records

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - Pro-life groups across Indiana are pushing back for access to abortion records.

Voices for Life is now suing the Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) after it stopped releasing Individual Terminated Pregnancy Reports (TPRs), while still releasing statewide quarterly data.

The state’s near total abortion ban requires more comprehensive information in these reports than before, according to the Indiana Public Access Councilor, which caused the Indiana Department of Health to have concerns of confidentiality, which is why it stopped releasing the reports.

Pro-life groups, along with Attorney General, Todd Rokita, argue the lack of access to these records violates Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act, and makes it more difficult to enforce Indiana’s near-total abortion ban.

Voices for Life filed a lawsuit in Marion County Wednesday, demanding individual terminated pregnancy reports return as public record.

The group’s attorney, Benjamin Horvath with Thomas More Society, said it’s a transparency concern, and those records are vital to making sure the ban is followed.

"We are not after patient information, it really is about the physician performing the abortion, where are they performing it? And then Voices for Life is able to carry out its mission, having access to it,” added Horvath.

The Department of Health argues individual reports should be kept private, as they are medical records.

Especially since the number of procedures has shrunk, with few exceptions being made by the near-total ban.

Local pro-choice activists worry the data could be weaponized against patients, doctors, and hospitals.

"So that is a very private decision a person makes in conjunction with a doctor, and with the few abortions happening right now, it's more important than ever we have patient privacy,” said Karen Nemes the Director of Pro-Choice South Bend.

In December, the Indiana Public Access Counselor wrote an opinion stating these reports should be withheld from disclosure to follow state law.

The Attorney General disagrees.

Now it will likely be decided by the lawsuit.

“We hope for transparency in government, and that the health department will continue to make the data available so that we can continue to work with the attorney general’s office to hold abortionists accountable for violating the law,” said Melanie Lyon Garcia, Executive Director of Voices for Life.

"I hope that more people become aware of what is happening at the state level, with potentially identifying patient information, that they will become galvanized to fight for abortion rights,” added Nemes.