Federal appeals court lets porn website age verification mandate go into effect
Indiana’s Senate Enrolled Act 17 has never gone live, despite an effectiveness date of July 1.
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Attorney shortage commission makes budgetary, legislative recommendations
The bipartisan commission charged with assuaging the state’s attorney shortage recommended funding legal practice startups and a regulatory “sandbox” agency — among other budgetary and legislative suggestions — in an interim report released Thursday.
Judge hears oral arguments in attendant care lawsuit
Attorneys trying to preserve attendant care services for two Hoosier families appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt on Tuesday, urging her to order an injunction that would halt their transition to structured family care.
Potential threats to IVF push political novices into election-year advocacy
“I remember thinking, this is the only way I was able to become a mother,” Gomez told Stateline. She and her husband went through years of fertility treatments and multiple rounds of IVF before the birth of their daughter in 2016. Without freezing her embryos and going through IVF, she said, “I would not be a mom. My 8-year-old would not be here.”
Judge spares Gary gunmaker lawsuit, rejects new law’s retroactivity
A March law — the Legislature’s third attempt to kill the case — lets only the Indiana attorney general sue the firearm industry. It’s retroactive to August 27, 1999 — three days before Gary filed its lawsuit.
Senators urge better access to disability payments for long COVID patients
Several U.S. senators have called on the Social Security Administration to take steps to make it easier for people with long COVID to access disability benefits, actions that disability rights advocates and patients say are desperately needed.
Rokita dismisses IU Health privacy case
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has dismissed a case his office brought against IU Health after a judge’s ruling found the case lacking.
Indiana Attorney General files to dismiss challenge to state’s ‘intellectual diversity’ law
The measure was adopted by the General Assembly over concerns that conservative viewpoints were being stifled on campuses and signed into law by Gov. Eric Holcomb in March.
Congress limps toward the end of a disappointing session, with just 78 laws to show
The deeply divided 118th Congress so far has placed just 78 public laws on the books, a fraction of the hundreds enacted during prior sessions, regardless of whether one party held control or voters elected a divided government.
Charitable care stagnant even as nonprofit hospitals sue Hoosiers
Patrick Lopez couldn’t breathe. He had dealt with asthma since childhood, but this was different. He felt like he was drowning. A doctor at Community Hospital in Munster confirmed it: his lungs were full of fluid and he would need to be admitted for COVID-19 complications. Lopez spent a week in the intensive care unit. […]
Indiana AG, Comptroller want proof of no funds supporting IU’s Kinsey Institute
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita and State Comptroller Elise Nieshalla want Indiana University to show “proof of compliance” with a 2023 state budget law that stripped state funding from the university’s Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction.
Appeals court blocks Title IX rule protecting LGBTQ kids, reversing Alabama federal judge
The ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit on the eve of the updated regulations taking effect brings the total number of states where the rule is temporarily blocked to 26, including Indiana.
Mysterious ‘Protect Patients Indiana’ group drops $50K on vague health care ads
The 30-second ad features generic clips of doctors and patients inside hospitals. An off-camera narrator says Protect Patients Indiana “is committed to safeguarding our health care” by “reducing red tape, supporting local hospitals and their staff” and “ensuring access for all Hoosiers.”
In rare bipartisan vote, U.S. Senate passes package aimed at protecting kids online
Legislation aimed at protecting children online sailed through the U.S. Senate Tuesday, marking what could be the first update since the late 1990s for companies who interact with minors on the internet.
‘Back to school’ brings new education laws to Indiana classrooms
Thousands of Hoosier students are headed back to school this week and next — and with the start of a new academic year comes a slew of new policies affecting testing, curriculum and classroom behavior.
Plaintiffs push back against state’s legal response in HIP lawsuit
Plaintiffs rejected a state motion to reinstate its authority to impose premium-like charges on Medicaid beneficiaries under the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) late Friday, urging the court to reject the state’s arguments.
State attorneys reject pleas from Indiana death row inmate, press for court to set execution date
Earlier this month, Corcoran’s lawyers said in court filing that he is “unquestionably seriously mentally ill” and therefore should not be subject to the death penalty.
Hoosier HIV anti-donation law used 18 times since 2000, report says
Since 2000, Indiana has arrested 18 Hoosiers with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on charges of donating plasma, according to a report released this week. None were charged under provisions penalizing actual transmission.
IU releases review of April’s campus protest activity and enforcement
Almost three months after police arrested 57 protesters at a pro-Palestine encampment at Indiana University-Bloomington, a new independent review released Thursday found the university’s inconsistent enforcement of its own policies created “confusion and frustration” and made governing the campus difficult.
Anti-abortion group argues that Indiana health department’s abortion records must be public
In defense of its lawsuit against the state health department, a South Bend-based anti-abortion group doubled down in new court filings that related medical records do not compromise patient privacy and should be made available to the public.