Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita urged a state medical licensing board to take disciplinary action against a doctor who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio.
Accusing Dr. Caitlin Bernard of flouting privacy laws and failing to report child abuse, Rokita argued in a complaint filed Wednesday that she fell short of her “legal and ethical duties” and cited state statute provisions stipulating penalties such as suspending licenses or sending reprimanding letters for such violations.
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“As the Office of the Attorney General, it is our duty to ensure that doctors meet the standard of care. In our opinion, Dr. Bernard fell short in this situation. Now, it is up to the Medical Licensing Board to determine whether there are consequences for violating a patient’s privacy rights and the obligation to immediately report child abuse to Indiana authorities,” Rokita said in a statement.
Earlier this summer, following the overturning of precedents first established in Roe v. Wade, the Indianapolis Star reported about a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio who traveled to neighboring Indiana to receive an abortion. The incident became a flashpoint in the raging national abortion debate at the time.
Upon the overturning of Roe, Ohio’s ban on abortion after six weeks of gestation went into effect.
Rokita, who is anti-abortion, sought to subpoena Bernard for records about her patients to investigate the matter, but she later sued to block that and argued that his remarks were false and defamatory. His complaint Wednesday did not outline a specific penalty that his office is seeking against Bernard.
Bernard’s lawyer, Kathleen Delancey, publicly repudiated Rokita’s call for disciplinary action, chalking up his move as an intimidation effort.
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“Though I am disappointed he has put my client in this position, we are not surprised given Mr. Rokita’s consistent efforts to use his office to seek to punish those with whom he disagrees at the expense of Indiana taxpayers,” Delancey contended, CNN reported.
Records indicate that Bernard apprised proper officials about the procedure shortly after it was performed, the New York Times reported. Her employer, Indiana University Health, conducted a review of the matter and concluded Bernard was in “compliance with privacy laws.”
