The Indiana Department of Health (IDOH) has issued formal guidance to physicians performing abortions under the state’s new, more restrictive abortion law.

The IDOH issued a two-page memo a day after the new law took effect Aug. 21, as the Indiana Supreme Court denied a request to reconsider a constitutional challenge to the law. The memo notes that the law immediately voids all abortion clinic licenses in the state. Those clinics can still offer other services, but abortions may only be performed in hospitals. The law allows abortions only if the mother faces serious health risks, in cases of a lethal fetal anomaly, or in cases of rape or incest up to 10 weeks after fertilization. 

The IDOH also notes physicians must document their compliance with the law in the patient’s medical record, including the reason for the abortion. 

The IDOH simultaneously issued updated guidance for completing the Terminated Pregnancy Report required after all abortions. View the TPR Submission Guidance here and the Regulatory Guidance here.