Indiana prosecutor seeks to punish doctor in 10-year-old’s abortion case

Nov 30 (Reuters) – Indiana’s legal professional basic on Wednesday requested the state’s medical board to self-discipline an Indiana physician who carried out an abortion on a 10-year-old rape sufferer from Ohio in a case that grew to become a flashpoint within the debate over entry to the process.

Indiana Lawyer Normal Todd Rokita, a Republican, accused Dr. Caitlin Bernard of “violating a affected person’s privateness rights” and the duty to instantly report little one abuse to Indiana authorities.

Rokita has been investigating whether or not Dr. Bernard adopted state legislation requiring docs to report abortions, though public data confirmed Dr. Bernard promptly reported the abortion as required.

His workplace requested the state’s medical licensing board to find out the suitable penalty for Dr. Bernard, starting from a letter of reprimand to everlasting revocation of her medical license.

Kathleen DeLaney, Dr. Bernard’s lawyer, mentioned in an announcement on Wednesday that her consumer had complied with all reporting necessities and had mentioned the lady’s case “throughout the bounds of relevant privateness legal guidelines.”

“The Administrative Motion filed as we speak by Mr. Rokita is clearly a last-ditch effort to intimidate Dr. Bernard and different suppliers of abortion care,” DeLaney mentioned.

The physician has mentioned the kid was referred to her for an abortion simply three days after the U.S. Supreme Court docket overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 case that had assured federal abortion rights.

Ohio was among the many states that rapidly enforced strict limits on abortion within the wake of the June ruling, generally with out exceptions for circumstances of rape or incest.

The legal professional basic just isn’t questioning whether or not the lady met the Indiana statutory requirement that she be not more than 22 weeks pregnant. When Dr. Bernard realized of the scenario, the lady was three days previous the six-week restrict in Ohio.

Information of the 10-year-old’s case launched a bitter authorized battle between Dr. Bernard and Rokita.

Dr. Bernard and her medical associate sued Rokita earlier this month, demanding an finish to investigations searching for medical data about sufferers and their abortions. The lawsuit accused Rokita’s investigation of being a “sham” and mentioned it violated necessities that investigations be primarily based on benefit, narrowly targeted and stored confidential. learn extra

Dr. Bernard’s swimsuit mentioned the subpoenas she had acquired from the legal professional basic had been primarily based on complaints from individuals who had solely heard of the case on the information and repeated the false declare that Dr. Bernard didn’t submit a report.

(This story has been corrected to say weeks, as an alternative of months, in paragraph 9)

Reporting by Gabriella Borter; Modifying by Colleen Jenkins and Howard Goller

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