Indiana doctor who spoke about abortion of 10-year-old girl faces final hearing
INDIANAPOLIS — A final disciplinary hearing for an Indianapolis doctor, who spoke publicly about providing abortion care to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio, opened Thursday before the Indiana Medical Board. whose members have made political contributions to the state’s Republican Attorney General.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita accused Dr. Caitlin Bernard of breaking state and federal laws by failing to report child abuse to state authorities and speaking publicly about the case of the girl, violating patients’ privacy. Rokita originally filed a complaint with the board in November 2022, asking the Indiana Board of Medical Licensing to impose “appropriate disciplinary action” on Bernard.
During Thursday’s hearing, Bernard told the board that she was following state reporting requirements and hospital policy — something she repeatedly asserted. Bernard said she informed hospital social workers of the child abuse and Ohio authorities were already investigating the girl’s rape.
Lawyers for Bernard argued that she did not release any identifying information about the girl that allegedly violated privacy laws.
The politically contentious case fueled national debates following the overthrow of Roe V. Wade last summer.
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A 10-year-old girl asked for an abortion after being raped
The information about the 10-year-old girl appeared in a July 2022 IndyStar article about reduced access to abortion following the US Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision in June. Ohio’s six-week abortion ban was in effect for about two months before facing legal challenges and being suspended.
And Indiana’s Republican-dominated legislature also passed an abortion ban after the Ohio case garnered national attention. But abortions are allowed to continue in the state pending a ruling from the Indiana Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the ban.
Abortion rights advocates and politicians, including President Joe Biden, have used the story to buttress their arguments. Some conservatives questioned whether the story was true until a 27-year-old suspect was arrested in Ohio and charged with the girl’s rape in July.
Rokita’s office says the information Bernard shared with IndyStar about the girl, which included her age and state of residence, violated privacy laws. The journalist was summoned for the hearing.
Bernard’s employer, Indiana University Health, said it conducted an investigation and found it to comply with privacy laws.
Rokita’s complaint also claims that Bernard did not immediately report to Indiana authorities the abuse that led to the girl’s pregnancy.
Bernard said these crimes had already been reported to authorities in Ohio, where they took place and where the girl lived. She said she also alerted the Indiana Department of Children’s Services to the abuse in a termination report submitted within the three-day time limit set by state law.
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Final hearing focuses on patient privacy
Indiana Deputy Attorney General Cory Voight argued Thursday that the board must address what he called a “gross invasion” of patient privacy and the doctor’s failure to informed the authorities of the rape.
“There hasn’t been a case like this before the board,” Voight said. “No doctor has been so brazen in pursuing his own agenda.”
Bernard’s attorney, Alice Morical, said the doctor reported cases of child abuse several times a year and a hospital social worker confirmed to Ohio Child Protection. that it was safe for the girl to leave with her mother.
Voight also questioned Bernard’s choice to speak publicly about the Ohio girl’s case to the media instead of using a hypothetical situation.
“I think it’s extremely important for people to understand the real impacts of this country’s abortion laws,” Bernard said. “I think it’s important for people to know what patients will be going through because of the legislation that’s being passed, and an assumption doesn’t have that impact.”
Lawyers for the Attorney General’s Office have also repeatedly questioned whether IU Health’s policy of reporting suspected cases of child abuse complies with state law. Officials at IU Health, which is the state’s largest hospital system, said the Indiana Department of Children’s Services has never opposed the hospital policy before.
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Todd Rokita’s Office Handles Caitlin Bernard Case Differently
Longtime health care attorney David Jose told IndyStar that board members can apologize if they have any connection to a case. He has never seen a member do so on the basis of political contributions to the official whose office takes complaints to the board, but “I could see how it could be raised as a conflict,” he said. declared.
Complaints against doctors are usually prepared and prosecuted by deputies in the Indiana Attorney General’s office. The complaint against Bernard, however, was signed by Rokita himself, and Rokita’s office used DC’s private law firm Schaerr Jaffe to help with the case.
“I have never seen anyone other than a Deputy Attorney General representing the state and taking legal action against a professional, whether it be a doctor, a nurse or a a chiropractor, whatever,” Jose, who has represented clients before licensing boards for 30 years, told IndyStar.
It would be “very rare”, he said, to see outside attorneys on the state side. But he also said state agencies hiring private legal attorneys are not unprecedented. Jose declined to comment specifically on Bernard’s case.
Bernard could potentially face a reprimand or have his license revoked or temporarily suspended. Jose told IndyStar that board members usually debate the merits of a case and make a decision at the end of the final hearing.
Regardless of the outcome, Rokita is likely to see a political boost from her continued focus on Bernard’s actions, according to Indianapolis University political science professor Laura Wilson. The case against Bernard solidifies her standing as the “name and face” of the anti-abortion movement in Indiana, she said.
Rokita, however, says it has nothing to do with politics.
“It’s about two things and two things only, patient privacy and the physician’s failure to report accordingly,” his office told IndyStar.
Contributor: The Associated Press
Follow Johnny Magdalene on Twitter @IndyStarJohnny
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