INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥� Indiana's Republican attorney general on Wednesday asked the state medical licensing board to discipline an Indianapolis doctor who has spoken publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled from Ohio after its more-restrictive abortion law took effect.
The complaint alleges violated state law by not reporting the girl鈥檚 child abuse to Indiana authorities and violated patient privacy laws by telling a newspaper reporter about the girl鈥檚 treatment.
That account in the weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June, with some news outlets and Republican politicians falsely suggesting Bernard fabricated the story and over the case during a White House event.
Bernard and her lawyers maintain the girl鈥檚 abuse had already been reported to Ohio police and child protective services officials before the doctor ever saw the child. A in Columbus, Ohio, with raping the girl.
Bernard鈥檚 lawyers argue Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, who is stridently anti-abortion, has been spreading false or misleading information about the doctor with his investigation allegations for several months.
The attorney general鈥檚 complaint asked the licensing board to impose 鈥渁ppropriate disciplinary action鈥� but doesn鈥檛 specify a requested penalty. State licensing boards ensure physicians have the appropriate training and education to practice in the state and can suspend, revoke or place on probation a doctor's license.
鈥淒r. Bernard violated the law, her patient鈥檚 trust, and the standards for the medical profession when she disclosed her patient鈥檚 abuse, medical issues, and medical treatment to a reporter at an abortion rights rally to further her political agenda,鈥� the office said in a statement. 鈥淪imply concealing the patient鈥檚 name falls far short of her legal and ethical duties here.鈥�
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday condemned Rokita鈥檚 request.
鈥淭his is not about the concerns of the victim,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is not about the victim at all. This is an elected official going after a doctor for helping a child who was raped and seeking health care.鈥�
The attorney general鈥檚 office filed the action as an Indianapolis judge considers whether to block the attorney general鈥檚 office from trying to obtain patient medical records for its investigation. The judge's ruling is expected later this week.
Kathleen DeLaney, a lawyer for Bernard, pointed to testimony from that investigation, including from Bernard, who on Nov. 21 testified that both child abuse authorities and law enforcement in Ohio were involved in the case before the child came to Indiana for treatment.
Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Katharine Melnick also testified that day and said child abuse would be reported by hospital social workers, not doctors, and such reports would be referred to law enforcement where the crime occurred.
鈥淭hough I am disappointed he has put my client in this position, we are not surprised given Mr. Rokita鈥檚 consistent efforts to use his office to seek to punish those with whom he disagrees at the expense of Indiana taxpayers,鈥� DeLaney said in a statement Wednesday.
Bernard treated the girl in Indianapolis in late June, as she said doctors determined the girl was unable to have an abortion in neighboring Ohio. That鈥檚 because Ohio鈥檚 鈥渇etal heartbeat鈥� law took effect with the Supreme Court鈥檚 June 24 decision. Such laws ban abortions from the time cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo, which is typically around the sixth week of pregnancy, before many realize they are pregnant.
Deputy Attorney General Caryn Nieman-Szyper said during a court hearing last week that Bernard wouldn鈥檛 be under investigation if she had not disclosed the girl鈥檚 rape to a reporter to advance her own advocacy of abortion rights. Nieman-Szyper said Bernard had not shown she had permission from the girl鈥檚 family to discuss her care in public, exposing the child to national attention.
Bernard testified that she spoke with an Indianapolis Star reporter about the girl鈥檚 impending abortion at an event protesting the Supreme Court鈥檚 abortion decision.
After the newspaper cited that case in a about patients heading to Indiana for abortions because of more restrictive laws elsewhere, Rokita told Fox News that he would investigate Bernard鈥檚 actions, calling her an 鈥渁bortion activist acting as a doctor.鈥�
Rokita has kept the investigation going even after rape charges were filed in Ohio and public records obtained by The Associated Press show Bernard met Indiana鈥檚 required three-day reporting period for an abortion performed on a girl younger than 16.
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Associated Press writer Zeke Miller contributed from Washington, D.C. Arleigh Rodgers is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow her on Twitter at
Tom Davies And Arleigh Rodgers, The Associated Press
