Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita speaks, Nov. 8, 2022, in Schererville, Ind. On Monday, Sept. 18, 2023, a complaint was filed alleging that Rokita violated professional conduct rules in statements about Dr. Caitlin Bernard, a doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled from Ohio to Indiana for the procedure. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A grievance, tendered on the day of Monday, contends that Indiana’s Attorney General, Mr. Todd Rokita, has transgressed the bounds of professional conduct through his remarks concerning a physician involved in the performance of an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim last year.
The indictment by Indiana’s Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission centers on an interview Mr. Rokita granted in July of 2022, during a televised appearance on a Fox News program, as has been duly reported by The Indianapolis Star.
In addition, the complaint levied by the Commission asserts that Mr. Rokita, a steadfast adherent of the anti-abortion stance within the Republican camp, has run afoul of confidentiality stipulations by publicly discussing an ongoing inquiry into Dr. Caitlin Bernard prior to formally registering a complaint with the State’s Medical Licensing Board.
The office of Mr. Rokita has proffered a response to this grievance, stating its intention to provide an answer to the allegations brought forth in due course.
Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist based in Indianapolis, administered a medication-induced abortion to the young girl in question during the month of June in 2022. Subsequently, she garnered substantial attention after offering an interview to The Indianapolis Star, wherein she relayed the harrowing account of the rape survivor who had journeyed from Ohio to Indiana in search of abortion care. This account, coming in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s seismic reversal of Roe v. Wade, ignited a fiery debate surrounding the issue of abortion.
Indiana was notably at the forefront in enacting stringent abortion restrictions immediately following the Supreme Court’s landmark decision. The recent imposition of a near-total ban on abortion in the state culminated from arduous legal battles waged on this front.
In a twist of legal recourse, Dr. Bernard subsequently filed a tort claim against Mr. Rokita, accusing him of disseminating falsehoods regarding her and her professional activities.
Mr. Rokita, for his part, initiated a federal lawsuit against Indiana University Health just the preceding Friday. His contention in this lawsuit alleges that the state’s largest hospital system breached patient privacy regulations when Dr. Bernard publicly shared the young girl’s narrative. This legal action extends to include IU Healthcare Associates.
Of note, Indiana’s medical licensing board had earlier admonished Dr. Bernard in the month of May. The reprimand was issued on the grounds that she had not adhered to privacy regulations when she made public statements about the treatment afforded to the young girl. It should be noted that hospital system officials have, in turn, contested this assertion.
Gerson Fuentes, a 28-year-old individual who admitted to the heinous crime of raping and impregnating the young girl from Ohio, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the month of July.
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