INDIANAPOLIS (AP) 鈥 An Indiana doctor has dropped a lawsuit that aimed to halt the state's attorney general from investigating her after she provided an abortion to a 10-year-old Ohio child who was raped.
Lawyers for Dr. Caitlin Bernard of Indianapolis voluntarily nixed the lawsuit filed last month against Indiana Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita, according to court filings Thursday. The lawsuit argued Rokita鈥檚 office was wrongly justifying the investigation with 鈥渇rivolous鈥 consumer complaints submitted by people with no personal knowledge about the girl鈥檚 treatment.
Marion County Judge Heather Welch ruled that Rokita could continue investigating Bernard, a decision that came two days after the attorney general asked the state medical licensing board to discipline the doctor. Rokita alleged Bernard violated state law by not reporting the girl鈥檚 child abuse to Indiana authorities and broke patient privacy laws about the girl鈥檚 treatment.
But Welch also ruled Dec. 2 that Rokita wrongly made public comments about investigating Bernard before he filed the complaint with the medical board. The judge wrote Rokita鈥檚 statements 鈥渁re clearly unlawful breaches of the licensing investigations statute鈥檚 requirement that employees of the Attorney General鈥檚 Office maintain confidentiality over pending investigations until they are so referred to prosecution.鈥
After the newspaper cited that case in a about patients heading to Indiana for abortions because of more restrictive laws elsewhere, Rokita told Fox News that he would investigate Bernard鈥檚 actions, calling her an 鈥渁bortion activist acting as a doctor.鈥
Bernard's attorney, Kathleen DeLaney, has to Ohio police and child protective services officials before the doctor ever saw the child. A with raping the girl. Public records obtained by the Associated Press also show Bernard met Indiana鈥檚 required three-day reporting period for an abortion performed on a patient younger than 16.
DeLaney also said in a statement Thursday that their focus has shifted to the complaint with the licensing board and they will continue 鈥渄efending Dr. Bernard and her medical license against Rokita鈥檚 baseless attacks.鈥
鈥淩okita鈥檚 actions set a dangerous precedent imperiling the provision of lawful patient care and jeopardizing the confidentiality of patient medical records,鈥 DeLaney said. 鈥淎nd Rokita continues to take these actions at taxpayer expense."
Rokita鈥檚 office did not immediately respond Thursday to a request for comment.
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Arleigh Rodgers is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Arleigh Rodgers on Twitter at
