(South Bend, IN) - The legal fight over abortion in Indiana is apparently far from over. An area pro-life group is suing the state Department of Health.

 

Voices for Life, based in South Bend, filed a complaint this week in a Marion County court to gain access to abortion records. The lawsuit alleges that in December, the health department stopped disclosing Termination of Pregnancy Reports (TPRs). Though highly restricted now by state law, abortions do still take place.

 

According to Melanie Lyon, Executive Director of Voices for Life, her group monitors abortions and has filed over 700 complaints in the past two years based on reports, which are now being withheld. She alleges the health department’s new policy is a tactic to skirt around the state’s abortion ban. Lyon told HTNN that a recent quarterly report indicated a baby born alive after a botched abortion. She referred to several similar occurrences in the past two years.

 

According to documents filed in the lawsuit, the health department's current stance is that abortion reports are confidential medical records.

 

The withholding of TPRs has received the attention of Republican gubernatorial candidates, as well as state Attorney General Todd Rokita, who joined Lyon at a press conference this week. According to Rokita, his office is barred by state law from investigating until private parties file suit. He has issued a non-binding legal opinion that TPRs should be matters of public record.

 

The Department of Health has until May 22nd to respond to the legal complaint.