Indiana judge rules probe over 10-year-old's abortion can continue - Fox News

A justice ruled Friday that Indiana Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita tin support investigating an Indianapolis doc who spoke publically astir providing an termination to a 10-year-old rape unfortunate from Ohio.

The judge's ruling connected the enquiry into Dr. Caitlin Bernad came aft Rokita asked the authorities aesculapian licensing committee to subject her, alleging that Bernard had violated authorities instrumentality by not reporting the girl’s maltreatment to authorities authorities, arsenic good arsenic violated diligent privateness laws by telling an Indianapolis Star newsman astir the girl’s treatment.

His ailment asked the committee to enforce "appropriate disciplinary action."

"Dr. Bernard violated the law, her patient’s spot and the standards for the aesculapian assemblage erstwhile she disclosed her patient’s abuse, aesculapian issues, and aesculapian attraction to a newsman astatine an termination rights rally to further her governmental agenda," the lawyer general's bureau said successful a Wednesday statement. "Simply concealing the patient’s sanction falls acold abbreviated of her ineligible and ethical duties here."

INDIANA AG ASKS FOR PENALTY FOR DOCTOR WHO SPOKE OF 10-YEAR-OLD'S ABORTION

Then-Rep. Todd Rokita, R-Ind., listens during a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing, Feb. 4, 2015.  (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

"This lawsuit is not astir whether an termination was performed. It besides is not astir the bureau exposing anyone’s aesculapian file. Those were arguments designed to thwart our probe into the physician’s behavior," it added.

The arguable relationship made waves successful the weeks aft the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Bernard said doctors determined that the miss was incapable to person an termination successful Ohio owed to the state's "fetal heartbeat" instrumentality banning abortions from the clip cardiac enactment tin beryllium detected successful an embryo.

A 27-year-old antheral has since been charged with raping the miss successful Columbus, Ohio.

An effort to artifact the probe into Bernard was rejected by Marion County Judge Heather Welch. 

The Indiana Statehouse successful Indianapolis, Indiana, Aug. 5, 2022.  (REUTERS/Cheney Orr)

Bernard and her attorneys support that the girl's maltreatment had already been reported to the authorities successful Ohio earlier she ever saw her, and reason that the anti-abortion Rokita has been spreading misleading oregon mendacious accusation astir the Indianapolis physician for months.

She filed a suit against the authorities lawyer wide past month, arguing that his bureau was wrongly justifying the probe with frivolous" user complaints submitted by radical with nary idiosyncratic cognition astir the girl’s treatment.

APPEALS COURT REINSTATES INDIANA FETAL CREMATION LAW

Welch, however, ruled that the aesculapian licensing committee present had jurisdiction implicit the matter. 

No proceeding day had been acceptable arsenic of Friday. 

The justice did find that Rokita had wrongly made nationalist comments astir investigating Bernard earlier his ailment was filed. 

Dr. Caitlin Bernard successful Indianapolis, Indiana, connected Sept. 28, 2022.  (Kaiti Sullivan for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

She besides ruled successful a abstracted suit that Indiana's termination ban violates the state's spiritual state law, though the state's termination prohibition has been connected clasp since September. 

Bernard's lawyer criticized Rokita for violating his "duty of confidentiality" and taking the lawsuit retired of the judge's hands. 

"We are assured successful the grounds and grounds that we person already developed and look guardant to presenting Dr. Bernard’s grounds to the Medical Licensing Board," Kathleen DeLaney said, according to The Associated Press. 

The lawyer general's bureau celebrated the ruling arsenic a "win for diligent privateness rights" and for "properly reporting kid abuse," penning successful a connection that the lawsuit was not truly astir termination contempt those who marque it look that way.

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"The doc and her attorneys initiated this media frenzy from the beginning, and it continues to gully attraction to this guiltless small miss who is trying to header with a horrific trauma," it said. "The [office] volition proceed to combat for patients’ rights and information successful this and different situations."

Public records obtained by The Associated Press amusement that Bernard had met Indiana’s required three-day reporting play for an termination performed connected a miss younger than 16.

Deputy Attorney General Caryn Nieman-Szyper said past week that Bernard would not beryllium nether probe if she had not disclosed the girl’s rape to a newsman to beforehand her ain advocacy of termination rights, adding that Bernard had not shown that she had support from the girl’s household to sermon her attraction successful public.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.