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Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Indiana health department may start fining hospitals that don't comply with abortion law
In an effort to comply with an executive order from Gov. Mike Braun, the Indiana Department of Health may start fining hospitals that don't comply with the state's abortion laws, a report from the department says. That could include two of the state's health systems that perform the bulk of abortions, IU Health and Eskenazi Health, which recently refused to hand over Terminated Pregnancy Reports following abortions performed there, as mandated by state law. Among one of Braun's first executive orders as governor was one directing the state health department to examine how it's ensuring compliance with the state's abortion laws. That included not only the new provisions enacted in 2022, which ban abortion except in the case of rape, incest, fatal fetal anomaly or threats to the mother's life, but also the part of state law that requires hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to report details about abortions they perform to the state health department. "Indiana is a state that supports Life, and the people's representatives have enshrined those protections for the unborn into state law," Braun said in a statement July 2. "We are taking the necessary steps to make sure those laws are properly implemented." State law has long required facilities that perform abortions, whether surgical or drug-induced, to provide the health department with detailed Terminated Pregnancy Reports. But IU Health and Eskenazi have refused to give these to the health department since the President Joe Biden administration enacted the HIPAA Reproductive Health Privacy Rule in mid 2024, which set limits on the disclosure of reproductive health information. An Indianapolis doctor is currently suing the state department in federal court over the submission of these reports, making this argument. However, a Texas federal judge in mid-June vacated the Biden Administration rule. The health department in its report says it is consulting with the two health systems and the attorney general's office on how to proceed in light of this court order. Eskenazi officials said the hospital is waiting for the result of the federal lawsuit to "clarify its responsibilities under the law," since the lawsuit "seeks to resolve what may be a significant conflict between the State's TPR statute and federal patient privacy laws," said Todd Harper, director of public affairs and communications. A spokesperson for IU Health declined to comment, saying "I don't have any information to share." In the meantime, the state health department is creating other tools to force compliance. Officials said the health department has begun to craft "new rules enabling the agency to issue fines" against providers that don't comply with state law. "This regulatory tool adds a layer of enforcement that does not rely solely on licensure action or criminal referral, allowing IDOH to address noncompliance swiftly and proportionately," the report states. A spokesperson for the agency said the agency hasn't yet finalized how steep the fines will be, but noted it will depend on "several factors" and that those fines cannot exceed $10,000 per state law. Another matter is whether the public can see individual Terminated Pregnancy Reports if the hospitals do provide them to the state. Immediately following Braun's order, IDOH had pledged to reverse its previous policy and start releasing individual TPRs for public disclosure under the Access to Public Records Act, but a new court case is blocking that from happening for now. Indiana's near-total abortion ban in 2022 not only sharply curtailed the number of abortions reported in Indiana, but required more personal information be added to these reports, such as demographics and medical history. After seeking an opinion from the Public Access Counselor in 2023, the state health department decided out of privacy concerns to withhold these individual reports from public disclosure. The anti-abortion group Voices For Life challenged that decision in court. After Braun's executive order, the state health department agreed to settle this lawsuit. However, a lawsuit blocking the records' release immediately followed, this one filed by two OBGYNs, Dr. Caitlin Bernard ― whose anecdote of treating a 10-year-old rape victim made national news ― and Dr. Caroline Rouse. The health department can't release any individual TPRs while this case is pending, but it continues to provide quarterly reports that aggregate abortion data. The health department's report also outlines steps it already takes to enforce abortion laws: It inspects and audits hospitals or ambulatory surgical centers, now the only medical facilities allowed to perform any abortions, to make sure they're following regulations and distributing the required "informed consent" paperwork. It checks the "reasons" given for the abortions on the Terminated Pregnancy Reports to ensure the procedures align with the exemptions in state law. It refers any criminal violations of the law, like unreported abortions, to prosecutors, and any professional issues to the appropriate licensing agency. The July 1 report also says the department has ramped up its coordination with the attorney general's office and elevated all abortion-related matters to the purview of the top levels of the agency. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@ or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana health department may fine hospitals for violating abortion law
Indianapolis Star
03-07-2025
- Health
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana health department may start fining hospitals that don't comply with abortion law
In an effort to comply with an executive order from Gov. Mike Braun, the Indiana Department of Health may start fining hospitals that don't comply with the state's abortion laws, a report from the department says. That could include two of the state's health systems that perform the bulk of abortions, IU Health and Eskenazi Health, which recently refused to hand over Terminated Pregnancy Reports following abortions performed there, as mandated by state law. Among one of Braun's first executive orders as governor was one directing the state health department to examine how it's ensuring compliance with the state's abortion laws. That included not only the new provisions enacted in 2022, which ban abortion except in the case of rape, incest, fatal fetal anomaly or threats to the mother's life, but also the part of state law that requires hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to report details about abortions they perform to the state health department. "Indiana is a state that supports Life, and the people's representatives have enshrined those protections for the unborn into state law," Braun said in a statement July 2. "We are taking the necessary steps to make sure those laws are properly implemented." State law has long required facilities that perform abortions, whether surgical or drug-induced, to provide the health department with detailed Terminated Pregnancy Reports. But IU Health and Eskenazi have refused to give these to the health department since the President Joe Biden administration enacted the HIPAA Reproductive Health Privacy Rule in mid 2024, which set limits on the disclosure of reproductive health information. An Indianapolis doctor is currently suing the state department in federal court over the submission of these reports, making this argument. However, a Texas federal judge in mid-June vacated the Biden Administration rule. The health department in its report says it is consulting with the two health systems and the attorney general's office on how to proceed in light of this court order. Eskenazi officials said the hospital is waiting for the result of the federal lawsuit to "clarify its responsibilities under the law," since the lawsuit "seeks to resolve what may be a significant conflict between the State's TPR statute and federal patient privacy laws," said Todd Harper, director of public affairs and communications. A spokesperson for IU Health declined to comment, saying "I don't have any information to share." In the meantime, the state health department is creating other tools to force compliance. Officials said the health department has begun to craft "new rules enabling the agency to issue fines" against providers that don't comply with state law. "This regulatory tool adds a layer of enforcement that does not rely solely on licensure action or criminal referral, allowing IDOH to address noncompliance swiftly and proportionately," the report states. A spokesperson for the agency said the agency hasn't yet finalized how steep the fines will be, but noted it will depend on "several factors" and that those fines cannot exceed $10,000 per state law. Another matter is whether the public can see individual Terminated Pregnancy Reports if the hospitals do provide them to the state. Immediately following Braun's order, IDOH had pledged to reverse its previous policy and start releasing individual TPRs for public disclosure under the Access to Public Records Act, but a new court case is blocking that from happening for now. Indiana's near-total abortion ban in 2022 not only sharply curtailed the number of abortions reported in Indiana, but required more personal information be added to these reports, such as demographics and medical history. After seeking an opinion from the Public Access Counselor in 2023, the state health department decided out of privacy concerns to withhold these individual reports from public disclosure. The anti-abortion group Voices For Life challenged that decision in court. After Braun's executive order, the state health department agreed to settle this lawsuit. However, a lawsuit blocking the records' release immediately followed, this one filed by two OBGYNs, Dr. Caitlin Bernard ― whose anecdote of treating a 10-year-old rape victim made national news ― and Dr. Caroline Rouse. The health department can't release any individual TPRs while this case is pending, but it continues to provide quarterly reports that aggregate abortion data. The health department's report also outlines steps it already takes to enforce abortion laws: The July 1 report also says the department has ramped up its coordination with the attorney general's office and elevated all abortion-related matters to the purview of the top levels of the agency.
Yahoo
04-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Indiana health department settles lawsuit over release of abortion reports
Following Gov. Mike Braun's executive order compelling the release of state reports on individual abortions, the Indiana Department of Health has now settled a lawsuit over their previous policy not to release them publicly. Under the terms of the settlement with the anti-abortion group Voices for Life, the state health department will now release the Terminated Pregnancy Reports as public records when requested ― as the department previously said it would start doing, per Braun's executive order. The Terminated Pregnancy Reports had been one subject of consternation between the attorney general's office and the health department following the passage of Indiana's near-total abortion ban in 2022. Sign up for our politics newsletter When the law cleared legal hurdles and actually went into effect in late 2023, the IDOH under former Gov. Eric Holcomb decided to withhold the individual abortion reports in favor of releasing only summary reports publicly. The department said that there were so few abortions being performed that the demographic details on the individual reports could make patients identifiable. Indiana's Public Access Counselor Luke Britt agreed, saying the forms should be treated like patient medical records under public records law. Attorney General Todd Rokita issued an advisory opinion in April 2024 disagreeing with this decision, arguing that the IDOH could redact identifying information. Voices for Life, which had been requesting the reports regularly since 2022, filed their lawsuit a month later. The settlement says IDOH can redact information to protect "personal health identifiers," but lists a number of data points the department cannot redact, such as the patient's age, the age of their fetus, the provider's name and address, and other details about the abortion itself. 'The public release of these reports is a victory for vulnerable women and children in Indiana," Melanie Garcia Lyon, Executive Director of Voices for Life, wrote in a statement. "Access to these reports will help ensure abortionists are held accountable for violating health and safety regulations." Democrats have decried the forced release of these reports as undignified for women. "Like any other medical procedure, patients receiving reproductive care deserve to have their privacy respected," Rep. Carey Hamilton, D-Indianapolis, wrote in a statement following Braun's order. The IDOH did not immediately return a request for comment. Contact IndyStar state government and politics reporter Kayla Dwyer at kdwyer@ or follow her on Twitter @kayla_dwyer17. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IDOH settles lawsuit over abortion reports following Braun order
