Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe Now
The Indiana Court of Appeals has affirmed a Marion Superior Court order preventing the Indiana Department of Health from releasing terminated pregnancy reports, ruling that the documents qualify as confidential patient medical records under state law.
In a decision issued Friday, a three-judge panel upheld a preliminary injunction won by OB-GYNs Caitlin Bernard and Caroline Rouse. The doctors sued after the state agreed in a settlement to release unredacted terminated pregnancy reports — or TPRs — in response to a public records request from Voices for Life, an anti-abortion organization.
The court found the physicians had standing to challenge the disclosures because the state’s shifting positions created uncertainty about what information could legally be made public. The judges noted Bernard had already faced professional discipline in 2023 for publicly sharing some of the same patient details — age, state of residence, gestational age and approximate treatment date — that the state later agreed to release in TPRs.
Judge Mark Bailey, writing for the panel, said that contradiction exposed physicians to “imminent injury,” including damage to patient trust and potential professional consequences, and justified judicial intervention.
The opinion describes TPRs as containing extensive medical and demographic information, including diagnosis, treatment details and data points that, when combined, could allow patients to be identified, especially in smaller communities. The court agreed with the trial judge that such reports fall under the Access to Public Records Act’s exemption for patient medical records.
The panel rejected arguments from the Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita’s office and Voices for Life that the injunction improperly blocked oversight of abortion providers. The court noted the health department retains full access to TPRs for enforcement purposes and that quarterly aggregate reports — required by statute — remain public.
The court also upheld the statewide scope of the injunction, ruling that limiting it to Bernard and Rouse’s patients would undermine its purpose by allowing similar records from other physicians to be released while the case proceeds.
The case now returns to Marion Superior Court for further proceedings, with the injunction remaining in effect.
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.