Indiana’s attorney general said he believes the media and others should “withhold judgment” when discussing the case in which a doctor allegedly performed an abortion for a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio, pending a review of the matter.
Todd Rokita, who has served as the state’s attorney general since 2021, wrote in an op-ed published by the Washington Examiner that such situations are more complex than the press make them out to be and people should be wary of what they read and hear.
WHAT I SAID (AND DID NOT SAY) ABOUT THE UNDERAGE OHIO ABORTION PATIENT
Although the disclosure of private information is protected by state and federal law and the situation garnered international attention, the presence of a review or investigation “does not imply guilt or innocence,” Rokita said.
He wrote that he had been misquoted in some media reports stating that Dr. Caitlin Bernard broke the law by performing the abortion and added that no conclusions have yet been drawn.
“These commentators could not have watched the actual interview from which they are quoting, or they would have seen the context and the questions asked. But instead, their narrative is much better served relying on a misquote than reviewing what was actually said,” Indiana’s attorney general wrote.
Bernard’s legal team filed a claim for damages on July 19 against Rokita and the attorney general’s office over assertions that she did not perform an abortion within the bounds of state law, citing instances that constitute defamation, the claim notice reads.
The notice states that on July 13 in an interview with Fox News, Rokita referred to Bernard as “an abortion activist acting as a doctor with a history of failing to report. We’re gathering the evidence as we speak, and we’re going to fight this to the end, including looking at her licensure. If she failed to report it in Indiana, it’s a crime for — to not report, to intentionally not report.”
Rokita mentioned the same quote in his op-ed without the “abortion activist” sentence, stating the media had misrepresented him.
After an Indiana University Health investigation, it found that the doctor did not violate any Indiana privacy laws. Rokita announced prior to the ruling that his office would be conducting a separate investigation.
In the filing, Bernard’s legal team says there is no ascertainable dollar amount in damages to be claimed, as “the harm is ongoing.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Bernard said in an interview with CBS Evening News that she has felt threatened within her line of work ever since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
“It shows how abortion, instead of being part of healthcare, which it is, a lifesaving procedure, which it is, had been used to create a wedge between people politically and personally,” Bernard said in the interview.
