Indiana

Indiana Department of Health seeks dismissal of abortion records lawsuit • Indiana Capital Chronicle

Published

1 year ago

July 9, 2024

Indiana Department of Health seeks dismissal of abortion records lawsuit • Indiana Capital Chronicle

The Indiana Department of Health is seeking to dismiss a lawsuit against the agency that was filed by an anti-abortion group over related records.

The lawsuit in question was filed in May by “Voices for Life,” which seeks to regain access to Terminated Pregnancy Reports (TPRs) that are no longer being released by the state health department.

Legal counsel for IDOH filed a motion to dismiss on June 21, maintaining that Voices for Life “fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.” The anti-abortion group has until July 23 to file its response.

Story continues below.

Memo in Support of MTD

Ryan Shouse, an attorney with Indianapolis-based Lewis and Wilkins LLP, emphasized in the motion that, “as a matter of law” TPRs are “confidential” under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act, also known as APRA.

“APRA grants any person the right to inspect and copy IDOH’ s public records,” Shouse wrote, noting, however, that APRA contains exemptions.

He pointed to the law, which states that, “

atient medical records and charts created by a provider” are “excepted from [the general rule of disclosure] and may not be disclosed by a public agency, unless access to the records is specifically required by a state or federal statute or is ordered by a court under the rules of discovery …. “

IDOH pushes for dismissal

Shouse additionally argues that TPRs maintained by IDOH meet the statutory definition of “medical records” — therefore making them exempt from APRA.

Per Indiana Code, “medical records” contain three elements: written or printed information; are in the possession of a provider; and concern a patient’s diagnosis, treatment or prognosis.

Shouse said TPRs meet all three requirements. His motion points out that Indiana Code specifically requires:

the diagnosis code for fetus and mother for abortions performed prior to 20 weeks
the medical reason for an abortion
gestational age and the information used to determine gestational age
results of pathological testing, if it is performed
any disability diagnosis of the fetus
pre-existing medical conditions of the mother, and
the mother’s obstetrical history

In addition, the statute requires specifics about the procedure itself, such as the precise medications used for nonsurgical abortions.

“This is patient-specific medical information that is used for the diagnosis and treatment of the individual patient,” Shouse said. “In short, TPRs squarely meet Indiana’s definition of a ‘medical record’ because they are written records created and maintained by a provider that contain individualized patient diagnosis and treatment information. Applying this straightforward definition, IDOH properly withheld TPRs pursuant to the medical record exception in APRA.”

Background on the lawsuit

IDOH and Dr. Lindsay Weaver, the state health commissioner, are currently represented by Indianapolis-based Lewis and Wilkins LLP, rather than in-house attorneys from Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office.

The South Bend-based “Voices for Life” group is suing the IDOH after it stopped releasing individual TPRs, while still compiling statewide public data quarterly. The change in procedure went into effect in December.

AG denies Indiana Department of Health request for outside counsel in abortion records lawsuit

Before then, the reports — while redacted — were regularly released under Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act.

The lawsuit, filed in Marion County Superior Court, came just weeks after Rokita called out IDOH and Indiana’s Public Access Counselor for “collusion” and issued a non-binding advisory opinion saying TPRs are public records.

In the past, anti-abortion groups have used the reports to file medical licensing complaints against specific doctors for procedural issues, such as filing a TPR late.

The state health department changed its policy after Indiana’s new, near-total abortion ban went into effect, which meant providers performed far fewer abortions. State health officials were worried that information on the report could indirectly identify the women getting the procedure and sought a ruling from Indiana Public Access Counselor Luke Britt.

Britt agreed that the report could be “reverse engineered to identify patients — especially in smaller communities.”

He found the required quarterly reports of aggregate data should suffice in terms of satisfying any disclosure and transparency considerations. Britt additionally said the records, created by doctors, fall under the provider-patient relationship as medical records.

Britt’s ruling isn’t binding, either.

So far, no court dates have been set in the TPR case. After Voices for Life files its response, it will be up to the judge to decide on the motion to dismiss.

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Indiana

Freshmen from Indiana show potential in UConn-Butler game: ‘Heck of a player’

Published

9 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Freshmen from Indiana show potential in UConn-Butler game: ‘Heck of a player’

Former UConn forward, NBC Sports broadcaster Donny Marshall knows a thing or two about talented UConn guards.

The former Husky played for legendary coach Jim Calhoun and was teammates with the fifth pick in the 1996 NBA Draft, 10-time NBA All-Star Ray Allen. Watching UConn play against Butler on Tuesday night, Marshall said he sees a lot of Allen in reigning Indiana Mr. Basketball Braylon Mullins.

Mullins made the second start of his career against the Bulldogs. The former Greenfield-Central star missed UConn’s first six games of the regular season with an injury, but the 6-foot-6 guard is quickly coming into his own and showing why he’s a projected lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.

Against Butler, Mullins showed off his sweet jump shot, going 2 for 5 from 3-point range. He finished with 12 points, three rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal.

“He’s a scorer,” Butler coach Thad Matta said of Mullins. “He’s got a scorer’s mentality. He gets his shot off quick. They move him around and create some angles for him. Obviously, he’s a heck of a player.”

Mullins did most of his damage in the first half, scoring eight of his 12 points before halftime. The former five-star recruit was the highest-ranked player in UConn’s 2025 class. Butler’s top-ranked recruit, Azavier “Stink” Robinson isn’t the NBA prospect Mullins is, but he held his own after a shaky start to the game.

Robinson has been thrust into the starting lineup with starter Jalen Jackson out for the season with an ankle injury. Robinson looked out of sorts at times in the first half, going scoreless with two assists and a turnover. In the second half, Matta moved him off the ball, giving him catch-and-shoot looks, and opportunities to drive to the basket without worrying about running the offense.

The former Lawrence North star responded with one of the better halves of his career, scoring 10 points on 3 for 6 shooting, including 2 for 5 from 3 to go along with two rebounds, one assist, one steal and one turnover.

Facing a veteran team like UConn, nothing comes easy. UConn’s guards harass ball handlers and getting into an offensive set is not easy. This time last year, Robinson was still in high school and, on most nights, the most athletic player on the court. Playing a UConn team where the goal is a national championship, Robinson was forced to grow, and he did not back down from the challenge in the second half.

“He’s coming along,” Matta said of Robinson. “That’s the first Big East road game of his career against maybe the best team in the country. It tells you how tough he is. He’s resilient. He keeps going.”

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Indiana

Indiana's Curt Cignetti becomes the first back-to-back winner of AP coach of the year

Published

21 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Indiana's Curt Cignetti becomes the first back-to-back winner of AP coach of the year

Curt Cignetti has been named The Associated Press coach of the year in college football for the second consecutive season. He is the first coach to win the award back-to-back since it was first presented in 1998. Cignetti has led Indiana to unprecedented success, with a 24-2 record over two seasons. The Hoosiers are 13-0 this year, Big Ten champions for the first time since 1967, and the top seed in the College Football Playoff. Cignetti received 47 first-place votes. Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire and Vanderbilt’s Clark Lea received two each, and Virginia’s Tony Elliott got one.

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Indiana

Central Indiana schools announce closures, delays planned for Tuesday

Published

1 day ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Central Indiana schools announce closures, delays planned for Tuesday

INDIANAPOLIS — Some schools in central Indiana are planning to close or delay the start of their classes on Tuesday.

The closures and delays come in the wake of a difficult weekend of severe winter weather in the Hoosier State. On Saturday, a wintry system dumped more than six inches of snow in some portions of the state.

Points north of Indianapolis like Lafayette received between three and four inches of snow. Towns south of the Circle City like Seymour saw similar snowfall totals. As for Indianapolis itself, more than five inches of snow were recorded in some portions of the city.

After Saturday’s snow, frigid temperatures took hold in the area. A Cold Weather Advisory was issued for much of the state as wind chill values dipped well below zero.

The cold and snow triggered a bevy of school closings and delays for Monday. Schools began to announce delays and closures for Tuesday late Monday night as snow removal crews across the state continued to try to keep roadways clear.

Though some schools plan to close or delay the start of classes on Tuesday, temperature improvements are forecasted. High temperatures are anticipated to exceed the 32-degree freezing threshold and hit 36 degrees. The warming trend is expected to continue on both Wednesday and Thursday, with high temperatures forecasted to reach 40 and 50 degrees, respectively.

Precipitation is forecasted for Thursday, though temperatures are expected to remain warm enough for Indiana to get rain instead of snow.

FOX59/CBS4 is tracking the closures and delays schools plan to implement on Tuesday. Check out the latest available list of closings below:

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