INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� An Indianapolis doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio is suing Indiana's attorney general, seeking to block him from using allegedly 鈥渇rivolous" consumer complaints to issue subpoenas seeking patients' confidential medical records.
The lawsuit targeting Attorney General Todd Rokita was filed Thursday in Marion County on behalf of Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist, her medical partner, Dr. Amy Caldwell, and their patients.
It alleges that Rokita has issued subpoenas seeking the medical records of patients based on complaints from people who have never been a patient of either Bernard or Caldwell and 鈥渨ho lack any personal knowledge of the alleged circumstances giving rise to the complaints."
The suit contends that Rokita has 鈥渃ompletely ignored" a state requirement that his office first determine that consumer complaints have 鈥渕erit" before he can investigate physicians and other licensed professionals and that his conduct 鈥渧iolates numerous Indiana statutes."
鈥淭he Attorney General has wholly ignored the General Assembly鈥檚 fine-tuned structure for handling consumer complaints regarding licensed professionals and has engaged in precisely the type of overbearing, harassing conduct that the General Assembly sought to prohibit," the suit states.
Bernard received widespread attention after , who traveled to Indiana from Ohio for the abortion after a so-called fetal heartbeat law took effect in Ohio in June after the . Such laws ban abortions from the time a fetus鈥� cardiac activity can be detected, which is typically around the sixth week of pregnancy.
A in Columbus, Ohio, with raping the girl, confirming the existence of a case that was initially .
After the news of the 10-year-old鈥檚 abortion broke, Rokita told Fox News he would investigate whether Bernard violated child abuse notification or abortion reporting laws. He also whether anything Bernard said to The Indianapolis Star about the girl鈥檚 case violated federal medical privacy laws. Rokita offered no specific allegations of wrongdoing.
Records obtained by The Associated Press and local news outlets show Bernard submitted her report about the girl鈥檚 abortion July 2, which is within Indiana鈥檚 required three-day reporting period for an abortion performed on a girl younger than 16.
Bernard's lawsuit asks a court to issue temporary and permanent injunctions to block Rokita from starting or conducting an investigation of a consumer complaint 鈥渨ithout first making an initial determination that the consumer complaint has merit."
It also seeks such injunctions to block him from issuing subpoenas related to an investigation based on a consumer complaint 鈥渨ithout first making a valid and proper determination that the consumer complaint has merit," and to prevent Rokita from 鈥渧iolating confidentiality provisions imposed by law."
The suit names as defendants Rokita and Scott Barnhart, the chief counsel of the state attorney general's office and also director of its office of consumer protection.
It alleges that the 鈥渋mproper conduct" by Rokita and Barnhart 鈥渢hreatens patients seeking legal abortions that their most personal and private medical records and health care decisions could be exposed as part of a meritless investigation."
Rokita鈥檚 press secretary, Kelly Stevenson, said Thursday in response to a request for comment on the lawsuit that the attorney general鈥檚 office investigates 鈥渢housands of potential licensing, privacy, and other violations a year.鈥�
鈥淎 majority of the complaints we receive are, in fact, from nonpatients. Any investigations that arise as a result of potential violations are handled in a uniform manner and narrowly focused,鈥� she added in a statement.
Bernard's attorney, Kathleen DeLaney, signaled in a Rokita. That 鈥渢ort claim notice鈥� was filed just days after DeLaney sent a asking Rokita to stop spreading false or misleading information about Bernard.
Rick Callahan, The Associated Press
