The Indiana doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim last month has faced outrage and threats to her safety and career over her role in the case, which has drawn the attention of the White House.
Breaking news: Dr. Caitlin Bernard’s attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter Friday to Republican Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita regarding “false and misleading statements” he made about Bernard on Fox News earlier this week, reports NBC News.
Why it matters: Bernard’s trial highlights the backlash that abortion providers can face after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, even if they follow the laws in their respective states.
Catch up fast: Bernard was the focus of an Indianapolis Star story about the child who can’t get the procedure in Ohio because of the approval of the so-called “fetal heartbeat” law, which limits abortion access to the first six weeks of pregnancy.
- Ohio law does not include an exemption for rape survivors or victims of child abuse.
- State and national Republicans and conservative editorial boards and broadcasters sharply criticized the Star’s reporting and sought to cast doubt on the veracity of the story and Bernard’s credibility.
- Earlier this week, an Ohio man, Gerson Fuentes, was arrested and charged with raping the child. Fuentes confessed when police confronted him after a police report was filed about the incident. Now he faces life in prison.
Rokita said that day he was “gathering evidence” to determine whether Bernard “failed to report” to have the procedure, a requirement under Indiana law. “It’s a crime to fail to report, to intentionally fail to report,” he said, according to NBC.
- After his appearance on cable news, Rokita’s office doubled down in a statement that questioned whether Bernard violated privacy laws by sharing information about the case, NBC reported.
Between the lines: Indiana University Health, Bernard’s employer, said the doctor had not broken any laws and was cooperating with a review of the matter, according to NBC.
- Bernard’s attorney, Kathleen Delaney, told Rokita that his statements cast her client in a false light, even though evidence emerged that Bernard broke no laws, according to a letter Friday.
- “We are particularly concerned that, given the controversial political context of the statements, such inflammatory allegations have the potential to incite harassment or violence from the public that could prevent Dr. Bernard, an Indiana licensed physician, from providing care of their patients safely,” the letter stated.
Go deeper: Roe v. Wade recap: Supreme Court rejects Roe v. Wade
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