Indiana's attorney general, Todd Rokita, asked the state medical board to reprimand an Indiana doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim.

The story has swept the nation since it first appeared in the Indianapolis Star in July, sparking controversy within the abortion debate following the Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade reversal.

Rokita has accused Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the OB-GYN doctor who performed the abortion, of "violating a patient's privacy rights." In a Wednesday statement, Rokita's office said it requested the medical board to discipline Bernard because she "failed to uphold legal and Hippocratic responsibilities by exploiting a 10-year-old little girl's traumatic medical story to the press for her own interests."

He also accused Bernard of not immediately reporting the child's rape to authorities, calling her an "abortion activist acting as a doctor, with a history of failing to report," in a Fox News interview.

The 10-year-old patient traveled to Indiana from Ohio for the procedure following the institution of a 6-week abortion ban in Ohio with no exceptions for rape or incest. A 27-year-old man was arrested in July in connection with the child's rape.

Public records show Dr. Bernard promptly reported the abortion as required. She refused to reveal the patient's name and discuss the details of the case.

Kathleen DeLaney, Dr. Bernard's lawyer, said in a statement Wednesday that her client complied with all reporting requirements and discussed the case "within the bounds of applicable privacy laws." DeLaney has called the attorney general's motion, "a last-ditch effort to intimidate Dr. Bernard and other providers of abortion care."

The medical board found that Rokita had "sufficient evidence" to support his complaint against Dr. Bernard. The complaint could result in a penalty for the physician, ranging from a letter of reprimand to the permanent revocation of her medical license.

In the case, Rokita has attempted to subpoena patient medical records from Bernard.

Dr. Bernard and her employer, Indiana University Health, sued Rokita on Nov. 3 in an attempt to prevent the attorney general from accessing confidential records. The case, filed to the Marion Superior Court, asserts that Rokita's office has violated requirements that investigations be based on merit, narrowly focused, and confidential. It also states that complaints against the doctor are from people who have only heard the case on the news, repeating Rokita's false claim that Bernard failed to promptly report the case.

Rokita, a Republican, was endorsed by the anti-abortion organization, National Right To Life, during his campaign. He formerly served as a congressman for Indiana's 4th district from 2011- 2019 where he supported the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, a bill that federally criminalizes abortions performed after 20 weeks.

Attorney general Abortion