Indiana to question M.D. who performed abortion on rape victim, 10
The Indiana doctor who performed an abortion for a 10-year-old girl who crossed state lines after being raped is now being investigated by the state’s attorney general, the AG’s office confirmed Wednesday.
“As the Attorney General, I’m duty-bound to investigate issues brought to my attention over which I have authority, especially when they involve children,” Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita told the Daily News in a statement through his office.
Dr. Caitlin Bernard’s attorney, Kathleen DeLaney, did not immediately return a request for comment.
Bernard, an Indiana-based obstetrician/gynecologist, helped the girl get to an Indianapolis clinic from Ohio, which had recently banned almost all abortions after six weeks. She was six weeks and three days pregnant.
Coming amid the firestorm of the Roe v. Wade overturning, conservatives accused Bernard of lying and making up the patient to make a point. After 27-year-old Gerson Fuentes was arrested and charged with the girl’s rape, critics, including Rokita, pivoted and accused Bernard of failing to follow proper protocols for reporting the rape and abortion.
“We have this abortion activist acting as a doctor with a history of failing to report,” Rokita told Fox News. “We’re gathering the evidence as we speak, and we’re going to fight this to the end, including looking at her licensure. If she failed to report it in Indiana, it’s a crime for — to not report, to intentionally not report.”
Bernard reported the abortion to both the
Indiana Department of Health and the Department of Child Services within the required time frame, and the girl had been abused, according to health records.