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Gov. Braun orders IDOH to share individual terminated pregnancy reports

A sign that reads "Keep Abortion Legal."
Lauren Chapman
/
IPB News
An Indiana judge ruled in September 2024 that terminated pregnancy reports were protected under Indiana's Access to Public Records Act.

Gov. Mike Braun is ordering the Indiana Department of Health to resume releasing individual terminated pregnancy reports, as it did before the state’s near-total abortion ban took effect.

Terminated pregnancy reports, or TPRs, are completed by medical providers following an abortion and include data about the patient and the procedure.

IDOH stopped sharing individual TPRs in December 2023 due to patient privacy concerns, instead sharing abortion data quarterly.

An anti-abortion group sued over the department’s decision, but a judge said Indiana’s public records law protected the reports — contrary to the view held by Attorney General Todd Rokita.

READ MORE: Expert: Legal discussion on terminated pregnancy reports in complicated ‘gray’ area

Braun’s new executive order directs all state agencies to cooperate with the attorney general when it comes to abortion laws.

Braun was asked about the patient privacy concerns.

“When it comes to that particular issue, I’m gonna not comment on it because I don’t know,” Braun said.

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Braun said all he’s trying to do is enforce state law.

Indiana Right To Life applauded Braun’s order and said it puts abortion providers on notice.

“We are thankful for Governor Braun’s swift and decisive move in support of Indiana’s law that has ended 98 percent of abortions in our state," said President and CEO Mike Fichter.

In a statement, House Democratic Leader Phil GiaQuinta (D-Fort Wayne) called the executive order “cruel and unbefitting of our state.”

“We don't need to put women through more pain than they've already been through,” GiaQuinta said.

Brandon is our Statehouse bureau chief. Contact him at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith has covered the Statehouse for Indiana Public Broadcasting for more than a decade, spanning three governors and a dozen legislative sessions. He's also the host of Indiana Week in Review, a weekly political and policy discussion program seen and heard across the state. He previously worked at KBIA in Columbia, Missouri and WSPY in Plano, Illinois. His first job in radio was in another state capitol - Jefferson City, Missouri - as a reporter for three stations around the Show-Me State.