Bernard v. Indiana State Health Commissioner (Indiana)

Case No. 49D13-2502-PL-006359 (Ind. Super. Ct.) / No. 25A-PL-00782 (Ind. Ct. App.)

This lawsuit seeks to prevent the Indiana Department of Health from publicly disclosing terminated pregnancy reports (TPRs). These reports—which physicians are required to submit for every abortion they provide in Indiana—contain 31 data points about the patient, including demographic information like age, county and state of residence, marital status, race, and ethnicity; and details about the patient’s medical history and the circumstances of their abortion. Multiple state agencies have concluded that such data could be reverse engineered to identify individual patients.

The plaintiffs, Drs. Caitlin Bernard and Caroline Rouse, are Indiana physicians committed to protecting their patients’ privacy. They intervened in a prior lawsuit brought by an anti-abortion organization seeking to compel the Health Department to release TPRs in response to public record requests. At the urging of the Indiana Attorney General, the Health Department ultimately settled that case, agreeing to “[i]mmediately release terminated pregnancy reports as public records upon lawful request and not designate the reports as confidential medical records.” The physicians promptly filed this case to prevent that from happening.

Earlier, in 2023, the Attorney General filed disciplinary charges against Dr. Bernard at the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana for disclosing that she provided abortion care to an unnamed 10-year-old sexual assault survivor from Ohio who was unable to obtain care in her home state following enactment of an abortion ban there. Ohio voters subsequently approved a ballot initiative that enshrined abortion rights in the state constitution. The minimal information that Dr. Bernard shared about her Ohio patient pales in comparison to the extensive information contained in the TPRs. The Attorney General’s inconsistent positions in these cases demonstrate an intent to harass and intimidate abortion patients and providers using all means available to him.

In this case, the Marion Superior Court entered a preliminary injunction barring the Health Department from releasing TPRs as the litigation proceeds. The Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed that injunction.

Plaintiffs:

Caitlin Bernard, M.D.; Caroline Rouse, M.D.

Defendants:

Indiana State Health Commissioner, in the officer’s official capacity; Voices for Life, Inc.

Co-counsel:

Kathrine D. Jack, Jack Law Office LLC

Timeline and Key Documents:

December 5, 2025

Indiana Court of Appeals Enters an Opinion Affirming the Preliminary Injunction

July 28, 2025

Voices for Life Files Reply Appellate Brief

July 11, 2025