Indiana doctor embroiled in discipline hearing after speaking about 10-year-old’s abortion

INDIANAPOLIS —  A hearing on possible disciplinary action opened on Thursday for an Indianapolis doctor who spoke publicly about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio, with finger-pointing over how the case became a political lightning rod in the national abortion debate.

Indiana’s Republican attorney general has accused Dr. Caitlin Bernard of violating state law by not reporting the girl’s child abuse to Indiana authorities. She is also accused of breaking federal patient privacy laws by telling a newspaper reporter about the girl’s treatment.

Bernard has defended her actions, and told the state Medical Licensing Board on Thursday that she had followed Indiana’s reporting requirements and hospital policy by notifying hospital social workers of the child abuse — and that the girl’s rape was already being investigated by Ohio authorities. Bernard’s lawyers said she didn’t release any identifying information about the girl that would break privacy laws.

The Indianapolis Star cited the girl’s case in a July 1 article that sparked a national uproar in the weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade last June, triggering an Ohio law that prohibited abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Some news outlets and Republican politicians falsely suggested that Bernard had fabricated the story, until a 27-year-old man was charged with the girl’s rape in Columbus, Ohio.

During an event at the White House, President Biden nearly shouted his outrage over the case.

Bernard’s lawyer Alice Morical told the state Medical Licensing Board on Thursday that the doctor reported the child abuse of patients many times a year and that a hospital social worker had confirmed with Ohio’s child protection office that it was safe for the girl to leave with her mother.

“Dr. Bernard could not have anticipated the atypical and intense scrutiny that this story received,” Morical said. “She did not expect that politicians would say that she made the story up.”

Indiana Atty. Gen. Todd Rokita’s complaint asked the licensing board to impose “appropriate disciplinary action,” but did not request a specific penalty.

Amid the wave of attention to the girl’s case last summer, Rokita told Fox News he would investigate Bernard’s actions, calling her an “abortion activist acting as a doctor.”

Deputy Indiana Atty. Gen. Cory Voight argued Thursday that the board must address what he called an “egregious violation” of patient privacy and Bernard’s failure to notify Indiana’s Department of Child Services and police about the girl’s rape.

“There’s been no case like this before the board,” Voight said. “No physician has been as brazen in pursuit of their own agenda.”

Voight asked Bernard why she had discussed the girl’s case with the newspaper reporter and later in other news media interviews rather than using a hypothetical situation.

“I think that it’s incredibly important for people to understand the real-world impacts of the laws of this country about abortion,” she answered. “I think it’s important for people to know what patients will have to go through because of legislation that is being passed, and a hypothetical does not make that impact.”

During Thursday’s hearing, Rokita’s office kept up a running commentary on its official Twitter account, with one post saying: “When Bernard talked about the high priority she puts on legislation and speaking to the public, she did so at the expense of her own patient. This shows where her priorities are as an activist rather than a doctor.”

Bernard objected to Voight saying that her choice to publicly discuss the case led to the misconduct allegations.

“I think if the attorney general, Todd Rokita, had not chosen to make this his political stunt, we wouldn’t be here today,” the doctor said.

Lawyers for Rokita’s office repeatedly raised questions about whether the policy of Bernard’s employer, Indiana University Health, to report suspected child abuse to authorities in the state where the abuse occurred complied with Indiana law. Officials of Indiana University Health, the largest hospital system in the state, testified that the Indiana Department of Child Services had never objected to the policy.

The Indiana board — made up of six doctors and one attorney appointed or reappointed by Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb — could vote this week on whether to impose any penalties after hearing what is expected to be several hours of testimony. State law gives the board wide latitude to issue reprimand letters or to suspend, revoke or place on probation a doctor’s license.

Ohio’s law imposing a near-ban on abortion was in effect for about two months before being put on hold as a lawsuit against it plays out.

Indiana’s Republican-dominated Legislature approved a statewide abortion ban weeks after the Ohio girl’s case drew attention, but abortions have continued to be permitted in the state pending an Indiana Supreme Court decision on the ban’s constitutionality.

Bernard unsuccessfully tried to block Rokita’s investigation last fall, although an Indianapolis judge wrote that Rokita made “clearly unlawful breaches” of state confidentiality laws with his public comments about investigating the doctor before filing the medical licensing complaint against her.