INDIANAPOLIS — Changes are happening right now for the privacy of those who receive an abortion in Indiana.
The Indiana Department of Health will now release previously withheld abortion records.
According to an announcement Tuesday afternoon, IDOH conceded in a 2024 lawsuit filed by the Thomas More Society on behalf of the advocacy group Voices for Life.
The lawsuit states that IDOH and State Health Commissioner Dr. Lindsay Weaver violated Indiana’s Access to Public Records Act.
According to the terms of the settlement, IDOH will now release Termination of Pregnancy Reports (TPRs) upon lawful request and not designate the reports as confidential medical records.
Thomas More Society Executive Vice President Thomas Olp says Voices for Life wants access to TPRs to ensure doctors comply with Indiana laws protecting the unborn.
“Voices for Life had been asking and receiving TPRs for over a decade. They do that in order to monitor the abortions that occur in Indiana. To look for information. To look for anomalies. Make sure that abortions are conducted according to law," Olp said.
This announcement comes weeks after Gov. Mike Braun signed Executive Order 25-20, which directs “all state agencies to ensure that the State of Indiana’s abortion laws are fully and faithfully executed, including, but not limited to, the submission of TPRs.”
Olp says TPRs require between 30-40 pieces of information about the abortion, including the name of the abortion provider, but not the name of the person who undergoes the abortion.
He says it’s not intended to reveal the identification of that person.
WRTV reached out to the Attorney General’s office as well as the Indiana Department of Health for comment.
We've yet to hear back.
