INDIANAPOLIS — Gov. Mike Braun signed nine executive orders Wednesday, primarily aimed at reducing healthcare costs for Hoosiers.
Among the orders, one stands out, directing the Indiana Department of Health to ensure compliance with the state's abortion law.
"All I am doing when it comes to it is I am enforcing the laws that we've got on the books," Gov. Braun said.
Executive Order 20 mandates the Department of Health to produce reports on terminated pregnancies. Currently, the department releases these reports every quarter instead of in real time.
Some anti-abortion groups have expressed a desire for individual reports to be made public.
Gov. Braun acknowledged that some believe not releasing these individual reports is a violation of the law but refrained from confirming whether this obligates the Department of Health to comply.
"I am going to let them work that out," Gov. Braun said. "What they are doing to me is OK because it's in the spirit of trying to make our law enforced in a way that it was intended to."
The remaining executive orders focus on fulfilling Gov. Braun's campaign promise to lower healthcare costs. These include directing the Department of Family and Social Services to audit healthcare expenses and create a dashboard for easier access to health programs.
Additionally, Gov. Braun is instructing state agencies to enhance price transparency in healthcare.
"What other product do you buy where you are not going to shop? Even in grocery stores, you have people going down the aisle with a smartphone to save a dollar on a $5 item," Gov. Braun said. "We have never done that in healthcare."
Another executive order will assess the value of nonprofit hospitals and charity care in relation to the tax benefits those hospitals receive. The governor emphasized the importance of holding these institutions accountable and ensuring they are genuinely serving the public.
To read the executive orders in full, click here.
WRTV reached out the the Indiana Department of Health regarding how it plans to release the terminated pregnancy reports. The agency confirmed it is complying with Gov. Braun's executive order.
Planned Parenthood responded to Gov. Braun's executive order and so did several Democratic lawmakers. You can see those comments below.
Planned Parenthood
“Today—on the 52nd anniversary of Roe v. Wade—Indiana suffers under a near-total abortion ban that prioritizes politics over patient health. Recent executive orders and administrative actions do nothing to override the fundamental principle of patient privacy; they merely highlight the obligation to uphold existing laws. Indiana’s reporting laws are already faithfully enforced, and the law is crystal clear: Terminated Pregnancy Reports (TPRs) are private medical records and should remain protected.
“These efforts serve one purpose: to intimidate and harass health care providers who are delivering lawful, essential care. This manipulative tactic of issuing an executive order essentially does nothing to change how current law is applied. It simply emboldens a hostile Attorney General who has weaponized TPRs to single out providers—creating a chilling effect that could deter patients from seeking the care they need.
“Hoosiers deserve compassion, not intimidation.”
State Rep. Carey Hamilton (D) Indianapolis
“This executive order is a continuation of the Republican attack on women and health care providers. Reproductive health decisions are best left to a woman and her doctor, not the Indiana General Assembly or our governor. Like any other medical procedure, patients receiving reproductive care deserve to have their privacy respected.
“Since Roe v. Wade was overturned, our colleagues in the Republican Party have made concerted efforts to strip women of our rights to health care access, family planning and our dignity. Today’s executive order is a reminder that this attack didn’t stop with the near-total abortion ban state Republicans passed in 2022.
“Under Indiana’s narrow exceptions, Hoosier women will die unnecessarily. Forcing doctors to wait until a woman risks losing her life to perform an abortion is not just bad health care practice; it’s cruel. We’ve heard countless heartbreaking storiesout of other states with abortion bans of women who are miscarrying and not able to receive crucial health care because of the laws implemented by their state government. In order to truly be a ‘pro-life’ policy, a policy ought not lead to the unnecessary deaths of women. A woman undergoing an abortion – for whatever reason – ought to have the dignity and privacy to not have her health care information shared with a state government hellbent on persecuting her.
“I didn’t come to the Indiana Statehouse to tell doctors how to do their jobs or to control Hoosier women's bodies. I’m far more interested in tackling high property taxes and fix our education system than I am putting a woman’s health information and safety at risk. I wish my Republican colleagues felt the same, and then we could really start to make life better for our constituents.”
House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta (D-Fort Wayne)
"Because of the Indiana Republican abortion ban, there are very few abortions taking place in Indiana in 2025. The ones that are legally permissible are only through the most horrific of circumstances: rape, incest, a serious threat to the life of the mother or when the fetus has a fatal anomaly. Can you imagine how painful that must be for affected women, girls, their spouses and their children? I am disappointed that Gov. Braun wants to put their suffering on display for anyone to see by ordering IDOH to release their records in the form of terminated pregnancy reports (TPRs).
"What's more, the small number of abortion procedures taking place means TPRs contain information that could identify patients in question. The Public Access Counselor previously issued an advisory opinion stating that TPRs are medical records and thus exempt from public access rules.
"This executive order is cruel and unbefitting of our state, and I appreciated Gov. Holcomb's small-government approach to this issue. We don't need to put women through more pain than they've already been through."
