An Indiana physician who said she performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim in June is awaiting a ruling from a judge on whether the state’s attorney general will be allowed to access patients’ medical records and investigate abortion providers.
A lawsuit filed earlier this month by Dr. Caitlin Bernard and her colleague, Dr. Amy Caldwell, accuses Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita of infringing on patient-doctor confidentiality and claims that he is targeting physicians who provide legal medical care including abortions, according to court filings.
The two physicians filed a request for a preliminary injunction against Rokita and Scott Barnhart, the Director of the Consumer Protection Division of the attorney general’s office, asking a judge to prohibit them from investigating “invalid consumer complaints against [physicians and their patients] and from violating statutory confidentiality requirements,” according to court documents.
They are asking the court to halt “sham investigations” being conducted based on “bogus” consumer complaints and to keep the attorney general’s office from being able serve subpoenas seeking the entire medical charts of patients who have received abortion care, according to Kathleen DeLaney, a lawyer for Bernard and Caldwell.
Caitlin Bernard arrives for the Time 100 NEXT Gala celebrating Rising Stars who are Shaping the Future of their Fields in New York, Oct. 25, 2022.
Caitlin Ochs/Reuters
Marion Superior Court Judge Heather Welch is expected to make a decision on the request for an injunction this week.
The plaintiffs claim that without court intervention, Rokita will “continue to unlawfully harass physicians and patients who are engaged in completely legal conduct,” according to the suit.
In June, Bernard publicly revealed that she provided abortion care for a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled from Ohio to Indiana for care.
At the time, abortions in Ohio were banned at 6 weeks.
A restrictive law in Ohio banning nearly all abortions has since been put on hold by a judge as a legal challenge proceeds. An Ohio man was charged with raping and impregnating the 10-year-old girl who police say then traveled out of state to receive abortion care.
Rokita later appeared on Fox News and accused Bernard of failing to properly report an abortion and revealed that his office was investigating her.
“We believe she has failed to carry her burden of proof and that the Office of the Attorney General should be free to continue its…
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