Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita issued an official opinion on April 11 regarding the Indiana
Department of Health’s (IDH) abrupt decision in December 2023 to block public review of forms
known as Terminated Pregnancy Reports (TPRs). The gist of the opinion is that IDH is wrongfully
withholding the reports by attempting to categorize them as medical records.
The opinion states, in part, that “TPRs are reports submitted to a public agency for purposes of evaluating compliance with state statutes governing abortion. The purpose and intentions of the TPR statutes would be frustrated if the form was confidential and non-disclosable in its entirety. To the extent there may be any information that could reasonably identify a pregnant woman who received an abortion, the agency may redact that information and still disclose the record to fulfill the TPR’s statutory purpose.”
Public review of TPRs has been permitted for decades in Indiana and has proven to be the only reliable way to identify potential wrongdoing by facilities and persons doing abortions. The opinion notes, “Without individual TPRs, it is not possible to investigate the provider of such abortions to ascertain compliance with Indiana’s laws.”
Contrary to media reports, TPRs previously made available for public review do not
provide personal identifying information about a woman obtaining an abortion. The opinion further notes, “ There is no indication the agency (IDH) routinely monitors the TPRs themselves to determine if a violation of Indiana’s laws has occurred.”
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