Judge Denies Request To Quash Attorney General’s Civil Demands
The Attorney General won a court ruling in his quest for information on services provided by health care entities to transgender minors. Photo from Getty Images.
By Niki Kelly
Indiana Capital Chronicle
INDIANA — Two Indianapolis hospitals and a Goshen clinic will be forced to further answer civil demands on health care provided to transgender Hoosier minors, a judge has ruled.
Marion Superior Judge Gary Miller on Wednesday denied the motion to quash sought by Indiana University Health, Eskenazi Health and Mosaic Health and Healing Arts in a one-paragraph order.
He heard arguments in the case Oct. 31.
The documents in the case were all filed under seal. The demands themselves were released to the Indiana Capital Chronicle on Monday.
The civil investigative demands — which are similar to a subpoena — are the same for all three entities and were sent July 11.
They say the Attorney General’s Office is conducting an investigation to determine whether the three health care providers are “misrepresenting and/or failing to disclose medical risks associated with prescribed treatments for gender dysphoria in minor Indiana consumers.”
In March, as legislators wrestled with a proposed ban on health care for transgender youth Rokita sent letters to several Indiana facilities demanding more information.
Lawmakers eventually passed a ban — a defeat for parental rights — but an order from a federal judge struck the majority of the ban down, leaving only the prohibition on surgical interventions for minors. Providers said such procedures didn’t occur and lengthy committee testimony failed to produce any Hoosier minors who obtained surgical care.
Just three providers responded to Rokita’s initial letter, prompting his office to pursue legal action in the form of civil investigative demands in July — the topic of the recent court filing.
Attorneys for the providers argued that much of the information sought was already available in a separate constitutional challenge of the new law. In K.C. vs. The Individual Members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana, a handful of transgender minors challenged a state ban on gender-affirming care in federal court.
IU Health, Eskenazi Health and final plaintiff Mosaic Health and Healing Arts are all part of the K.C. court case, as some of the few health care providers to oversee gender-affirming care in the state. That case has open discovery until March 2024, as shared in the hearing.
Rokita’s office on Monday also released the civil demands in the case.
Some of the requests include, verbatim:
- The number of surgeries to treat gender dysphoria, as defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition — including but not limited to double mastectomies for biological females; breast augmentation for biological males; phalloplasty, vaginectomy, oophorectomy, and/or hysterectomy for biological females; and vaginoplasty, vulvoplasty, and/or penectomy for biological males — performed…on minors each calendar year since January 1, 2020.
- The number of minors who were prescribed cross-sex hormones (i.e., testosterone for biological females and estrogen and/or anti-androgens for biological males) to treat gender dysphoria or similar conditions…each calendar year since January 1, 2020.
- The number of minors who were prescribed puberty blockers (e.g., gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists or bicalutamide) to treat gender dysphoria or similar conditions…each calendar year since January 1, 2020.
- For each of the treatments described in Interrogatories 2 through 5, describe how (Provider) provides minors and their parents with information about any risks of the treatment. In your description, detail the risks that are disclosed to patients.
- For each of the risks…identify each nonprofit or medical association on which (Provider) relies as a factual basis for citing those risks.
- For each of the treatments…state whether and, if so, describe how (Provider) advertises or otherwise markets these services to minors, including but not limited to partnerships with schools, federal, state or local government agencies or entities, youth organizations, summer camps, nonprofits, or similar organizations, as well as any publications, or other media or mediums used.