Senate committee advances resolution honoring pregnancy care centers after contested testimony

A Senate committee voted to advance Senate Concurrent Resolution 24, which recognizes pregnancy care centers for the services they provide to pregnant people, after supporters and medical experts offered sharply different accounts of the centers’ operations.

Senator Rotz presented the resolution, saying it “highlights those organizations for the good work that they do” helping people who may be early in a pregnancy with “compassionate care, confidential peer counseling” and basic services that help people learn they are pregnant and consider options. Supporters in the hearing characterized the centers as community-based places that provide emotional support and information for people finding out they are pregnant.

But Dr. Amy Caldwell, a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist testifying for Indiana ACOG (the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology’s state chapter), opposed the resolution. Caldwell told the committee the centers are “nonmedical facilities” that are not necessarily staffed by licensed clinicians, do not operate under formal medical oversight, can fail to safeguard privacy or medical records, and may provide inaccurate information about pregnancy and abortion care. She said patients have presented to her clinic believing they had received medical care at such centers when they had not, sometimes delaying needed prenatal care.

Senator Ford questioned whether the centers’ technicians performing ultrasounds are licensed and whether centers fall under federal privacy rules such as HIPAA. Senator Rotz and other supporters said centers vary by location and by staffing — some rely on volunteers and some have paid staff — and that the centers aim to guide people and provide support. Rotz said he could not fully answer whether every center is subject to HIPAA but expressed confidence in the centers’ intent to provide confidentiality.

After the testimony and a brief discussion — which included a senator saying he had drafted amendments that would require licensure and stronger conditions for state assistance to centers — committee members took a roll call on the resolution. Several members voted in favor and at least one member recorded a nay; the presiding chair registered an aye. The motion to advance the resolution carried and the measure was recommended forward from committee.

The hearing transcript shows references to Senate Bill 1 as background for the centers’ recognition in state law, and witnesses repeatedly invoked privacy and licensing concerns in their exchanges. The committee did not adopt any of the licensure or oversight amendments described during debate.

The resolution recognizes pregnancy care centers for community-based services; it does not itself create licensing requirements or new oversight. The committee’s advancement of the measure means it will move to the next legislative step for further consideration.