Voices for Life Files Complaint Against Indiana Health Dept. Over Concealing Abortion Records
(May 2, 2024 – South Bend, Indiana) – A pro-life organization seeking to ensure Indiana’s abortion industry follows state laws, contends that the state health department is shielding abortion providers from public accountability after the department decided it would no longer release abortion records. Represented by Thomas More Society attorneys, Voices for Life filed a complaint in Marion County Superior Court on May 1, 2024, against the Indiana Department of Health and State Health Commissioner Dr. Lindsay Weaver, for violating the state’s Access to Public Records Act.
Since 2022, Voice for Life has requested and reviewed Termination of Pregnancy Reports for potential violations of health and safety standards. Indiana law requires abortion providers to submit reports, without patient names or other identifying factors, each month to improve maternal health and ensure abortions are performed legally. In reviewing these reports, Voices for Life has discovered about 700 instances of illegal activity among abortion providers and filed complaints with the state health department and the attorney general’s office.
The state health department routinely complied with Voices for Life’s requests until last fall, when the organization requested the August 2023 records. After several months delay, the department responded that it would no longer release individual Termination of Pregnancy Reports, citing confidentiality of patient medical records. Instead, the department now only releases quarterly reports of aggregated data, which do not provide the necessary detail to identify potential violations or the licensed professional or facility performing the abortion.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has argued that Termination of Pregnancy Reports are not exempt from public disclosure, noting that the reports have been available for public review for decades without contention that they are medical records. Rokita issued an advisory opinion critical of the health department’s refusal to release individual reports, and noted that concealing the data impedes his office from investigating complaints against abortion providers and effectively enforcing Indiana’s abortion laws.
Thomas Olp, Thomas More Society Executive Vice President, stated: “Voices for Life, other pro-life organizations and the attorney general’s office must be able to review individual records in order to ensure abortion providers do not ignore laws designed to protect Indiana women and children. Indiana’s abortion industry has a history of health and safety violations. Those who run afoul of the law must be held accountable.”
Benjamin Horvath, Thomas More Society Special Counsel, added: “Indiana citizens have a right to this vital information and to transparency in their state government. By refusing to comply with Voices for Life’s request for access to public records, the health department is depriving citizens of their role in petitioning the attorney general to investigate cases that suggest terminating a pregnancy was unlawful.”
Read the Complaint, filed May 1, 2024, by Thomas More Society attorneys in the Superior Court of Indiana on behalf of Voices for Life in Voices for Life v. Indiana Department of Health and Dr. Lindsay Weaver, M.D., here.
