Author

Casey Smith
A lifelong Hoosier, Casey Smith is a reporter for the Indiana Capital Chronicle. She previously reported on the Indiana Legislature for The Associated Press. She holds a master’s degree in investigative reporting and narrative science writing from the University of California/Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. She previously earned degrees in journalism, anthropology and Spanish from Ball State University, where she now serves as an instructor of journalism.
Whole Woman’s Health closes South Bend abortion clinic
By: Casey Smith - June 6, 2023
Whole Woman’s Health Alliance has closed its South Bend clinic for good amid “politically driven and medically unnecessary abortion restrictions,” the nonprofit announced late Monday night. The clinic has not seen patients for several months and surrendered its license back to the Indiana Department of Health this week. The license was set to expire June […]
Indiana Medical Licensing Board rules Bernard violated patient privacy laws
By: Casey Smith - May 26, 2023
The Indiana Medical Licensing Board ruled Thursday that Indianapolis OB-GYN Dr. Caitlin Bernard violated state and federal patient privacy laws when she publicly discussed a 10-year-old rape victim seeking an abortion in Indiana. The licensing board deemed Bernard did not improperly report child abuse, however, and is fit to practice medicine. Ultimately she was given […]
Donald Trump talks gun rights — but not his criminal charges — at NRA convention
By: Casey Smith - April 17, 2023
In Donald Trump’s first major public appearance since his historic arrest, the former president evoked his “pro-gun” policies but refrained from delving into his indictment when he spoke at a National Rifle Association (NRA) convention on Friday in Indianapolis. Trump headlined the annual NRA-ILA Leadership Forum at the Indiana Convention Center, where he and other Republican presidential […]
Effort to move Indiana to partisan school board elections dies in the House
By: Casey Smith - February 27, 2023
A bill that would have let Hoosier communities decide if local school board elections should be partisan died in the Indiana House after lawmakers failed to vote on the measure by Monday’s deadline. That means school board races will stay non-partisan — at least for now. Language from the bill could still crop up in others before […]
Rokita advances complaint against Bernard to Indiana Medical Licensing Board
By: Casey Smith - November 30, 2022
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita on Wednesday sent a complaint against an Indianapolis-based doctor who is at the center of a controversial abortion case to the Indiana Medical Licensing Board. The Republican attorney general said in a statement that Dr. Caitlin Bernard “failed to immediately report the abuse and rape of a child to Indiana authorities” […]
Indiana lawyer files first significant lawsuit against Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan
By: Casey Smith - September 28, 2022
A public interest lawyer in Indiana is suing to block President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness plan on the basis that he would be forced to pay state taxes on the canceled debt. It’s one of the first significant legal challenges to Biden’s plan. The federal lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the […]
Indiana governor signs near-total abortion ban
By: Casey Smith - August 7, 2022
Indiana’s governor signed into law late Friday a Republican-backed bill that will ban virtually all abortions in the state, making it the first to enact abortion-restricting legislation since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The ban takes effect on Sept. 15, at which point Indiana will have one of the most restrictive abortion laws in […]