Judge grants injunction blocking Indiana from releasing abortion records

A judge ruled on Monday against the release of abortion records, also known as terminated pregnancy reports or TPRs, kept by the Indiana Department of Health.

The court granted the preliminary injunction to two Indianapolis physicians, Caitlin Bernard and Caroline Rouse, who argued that the release of individual terminated pregnancy reports would violate patient privacy.

In granting the injunction, Marion County Superior Court Judge James Joven found that the physicians were reasonably likely to succeed at trial, noting that the TPRs had sensitive patient information, including diagnoses and treatments.

Attorneys for the state and the anti-abortion group Voices for Life have previously argued that abortion records reported to the state, which would have certain information redacted such as patient names, should be subject to public records requests.

Both the Indiana Health Commissioner and Voices for Life have argued that abortion records have been subjected to records requests “for decades” in Indiana.

But Judge Joven noted that since the passage of Indiana’s near-total abortion ban in 2023, physicians have been required to include more sensitive information, like a patient’s diagnosis and the reason the physician performed the abortion — even as significantly fewer abortions are taking place in the state.

“The Court determines that the inclusion of diagnostic and treatment information on TPRs (Terminated Pregnancy Reports) following Indiana’s abortion ban nullifies any argument that the Department’s prior practice of releasing TPRs should carry persuasive weight,” Judge Jarven wrote.

The court had previously approved a temporary restraining order, which was set to expire on Monday. The preliminary injunction will remain in place until the court issues its final judgment on the case.

Quarterly aggregated data are still made public by the state department of health.

In a joint statement, Dr. Bernard and Dr. Rouse said that they were thrilled by the court’s decision and that “privacy is an essential component of healthcare.”

Lawyers representing the state and Voices for Life did not immediately respond to WFYI’s request for comment.

Contact WFYI’s Health Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org.