---
type: "Bill"
title: "Parental rights."
description: "Provides that a governmental entity may not substantially burden certain parental rights unless the burden, as applied to the parent and the child, is required to advance a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of advancing the governmental interest. Prohibits a governmental entity from: (1) advising, directing, or coercing a child to withhold certain information from the child's parent; or (2) denying a child's parent access to certain information. Allows a parent to bring an action against a governmental entity for certain violations and provides for certain relief. Specifies that the parent of a child does not have a right to access certain medical care on behalf of the child if the child does not have an affirmative right of access to the medical care."
jurisdiction: "us/states/in"
legislature: "Indiana General Assembly"
session: "2025"
identifier: "SB 143"
citation: "Indiana SB 143 (2025)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CHILDREN AND MINORS; Generally", "CIVIL LAW AND PROCEDURE; Rules of Trial Procedure", "COURTS; Generally", "HEALTH; Children and Minors", "MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LAW; Generally", "STATE GOVERNMENT; Generally"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Brett Clark", "Liz Brown", "Scott Alexander", "Shane Lindauer"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 32
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2025-01-08"
last_action: "2025-04-22"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f4df8f77-39eb-4bfb-820c-76d910131f03"
source_url: "https://api.iga.in.gov/2025/bills/sb0143"
source_hash: "5c0d8a59705e5419ff0bb6985d87616a9b107ad6e4d3ffc571e3304a7494094a"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-in"]
---

# Indiana SB 143 (2025) — Parental rights.

Provides that a governmental entity may not substantially burden certain parental rights unless the burden, as applied to the parent and the child, is required to advance a compelling governmental interest and is the least restrictive means of advancing the governmental interest. Prohibits a governmental entity from: (1) advising, directing, or coercing a child to withhold certain information from the child's parent; or (2) denying a child's parent access to certain information. Allows a parent to bring an action against a governmental entity for certain violations and provides for certain relief. Specifies that the parent of a child does not have a right to access certain medical care on behalf of the child if the child does not have an affirmative right of access to the medical care.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Engrossed Senate Bill (H)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/senate/bills/SB0143/SB0143.03.ENGS.pdf)
2. **Enrolled Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/senate/bills/SB0143/SB0143.05.ENRH.pdf)
3. **Introduced Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/senate/bills/SB0143/SB0143.01.INTR.pdf)
4. **Senate Bill (S)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://iga.in.gov/pdf-documents/124/2025/senate/bills/SB0143/SB0143.04.COMH.pdf)

## Votes

- SB 143 - Brown L — **43–4** (pass) · upper
- SB 143 - Lindauer - 3rd Reading — **69–24** (pass) · lower
- SB 143 - Brown L - 3rd Reading — **44–5** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Brett Clark — primary (person)
- Liz Brown — primary (person)
- Scott Alexander — primary (person)
- Shane Lindauer — primary (person)
- Blake Doriot — coauthor (person)
- Brian Buchanan — coauthor (person)
- Chris Garten — coauthor (person)
- Gary Byrne — coauthor (person)
- Greg Goode — coauthor (person)
- J.D. Prescott — cosponsor (person)
- James Buck — coauthor (person)
- James Tomes — coauthor (person)
- Jeff Raatz — coauthor (person)
- Linda Rogers — coauthor (person)
- Lonnie Randolph — coauthor (person)
- Matt Commons — cosponsor (person)
- Mike Bohacek — coauthor (person)
- Mike Gaskill — coauthor (person)
- Randy Maxwell — coauthor (person)
- Stacey Donato — coauthor (person)
- Timothy Wesco — cosponsor (person)
- Tyler Johnson — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2025-01-08** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2025-01-08** Authored by Senator Brown L
- **2025-01-13** Senator Byrne added as coauthor
- **2025-01-16** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2025-01-21** Senator Garten added as coauthor
- **2025-01-21** Senator Rogers added as coauthor
- **2025-01-21** Senator Alexander added as second author
- **2025-01-21** Senator Clark added as third author
- **2025-01-21** Senators Gaskill, Johnson T, Donato, Doriot, Buchanan, Tomes, Goode, Randolph, Maxwell added as coauthors
- **2025-01-23** Second reading: amended, ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2025-01-23** Senator Bohacek added as coauthor
- **2025-01-23** Senator Raatz added as coauthor
- **2025-01-23** Amendment #3 (Brown L) prevailed; voice vote `amendment-passage`
- **2025-01-27** House sponsor: Representative Lindauer
- **2025-01-27** Senator Buck added as coauthor
- **2025-01-27** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 23: yeas 44, nays 5 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2025-01-28** Referred to the House `referral`
- **2025-03-03** First reading: referred to Committee on Judiciary `reading-1, referral-committee`
- **2025-03-13** Representative Prescott added as cosponsor
- **2025-03-13** Representative Commons added as cosponsor
- **2025-03-24** Committee report: amend do pass, adopted `committee-passage`
- **2025-03-27** Second reading: ordered engrossed `reading-2`
- **2025-03-31** Representative Wesco added as cosponsor
- **2025-04-02** Returned to the Senate with amendments `receipt`
- **2025-04-01** Third reading: passed; Roll Call 344: yeas 69, nays 24 `passage, reading-3, reading-3`
- **2025-04-09** Signed by the President Pro Tempore `passage`
- **2025-04-08** Senate concurred with House amendments; Roll Call 371: yeas 43, nays 4
- **2025-04-08** Motion to concur filed `filing`
- **2025-04-09** Signed by the Speaker `passage`
- **2025-04-15** Signed by the President of the Senate `passage`
- **2025-04-22** Signed by the Governor `executive-signature`
- **2025-04-22** Public Law 101 `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f4df8f77-39eb-4bfb-820c-76d910131f03`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Indiana legislature records).