A prominent conservative legal group is calling on Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) to launch a civil rights investigation into the state’s largest hospital system, Indiana University Health, over allegations it is embedding “illegal” race and sex preferences throughout its operations, including in organ transplant eligibility.
In a June 11 letter revealed publicly on Monday, the America First Legal Foundation, founded by an adviser to President Donald Trump, accused IU Health of violating both state and federal law through what it described as a “sweeping” diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) regime. The Trump-aligned group provided documentation to Rokita, which claims IU Health has allegedly imposed demographic quotas in hiring, promoted vendors based on race and gender, and incorporated equity metrics into medical decisions.
“This isn’t equity. It is government-endorsed discrimination,” said AFL attorney Megan Redshaw. “Indiana taxpayers are funding a healthcare system that openly violates the most basic civil rights protections.”
IU Health, which receives over $2 million in taxpayer funding annually, has launched multiple DEI initiatives in recent years. According to AFL, that includes a job listing for a “BIPOC doula,” supplier diversity rules requiring race and sex ownership disclosures, and race-based leadership hiring targets to align with Indiana’s census data.
AFL also pointed to IU Health’s participation in the federal Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) model, administered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That program, intended to improve access to transplants, ties reimbursement to equity benchmarks. According to AFL, IU Health’s use of that model means clinical decisions may be influenced by “demographic category” rather than solely by medical need.
“If IU Health is weaponizing IOTA to prioritize patients based on demographic traits rather than medical need, that conduct is not just unlawful—it is morally indefensible,” the letter said.
The group asked Rokita’s office to investigate all IU Health programs that use race, sex, or identity-based criteria under DEI or “health equity” banners. AFL also requested a formal review of the transplant program’s equity plan, and warned that practitioners involved in enforcing these policies could face professional discipline under Indiana regulations.
AFL noted that IU Health has recently removed some DEI-related language from its website, but said internal job postings and policy documents confirm that identity-based practices remain, describing it as “illegal DEI policies in hiring, contracting, and clinical practices.”
“These are not isolated initiatives—they are embedded into the system’s long-term governance, staffing, training, and care delivery,” AFL wrote. “IU Health’s policy is to ‘weave’ DEI into every facet of its operations.”
The investigative calls from AFL come as Rokita, a supporter of Trump, has already pledged to investigate the legality of DEI programs at the University of Notre Dame, Butler University and DePauw University.
AFL, which works as a conservative equivalent of the largely left-leaning American Civil Liberties Union, was founded by Stephen Miller, Trump’s White House deputy chief of staff. The group has been led by founder Gene Hamilton and its vice president Daniel Epstein in Miller’s absence.
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IU Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Rokita’s office has not yet said whether it will act on the complaint.
Read the full letter below:
IU Health AG Letter by reportoftheday on Scribd