St. Louis, Mo., Dec 9, 2022 / 10:32 am
An Indiana abortion doctor, Caitlin Bernard, has voluntarily withdrawn her lawsuit against state attorney general Todd Rokita, whose office is investigating her after she publicly disclosed performing an abortion last summer on a 10-year-old Ohio child who was raped.
Bernard in June performed an abortion on the girl, who traveled from Ohio to Indiana. Already known for her pro-abortion activism in Indiana, Bernard drew worldwide media attention to herself when she disclosed to the Indianapolis Star details about the abortion, though she did not name the patient. Ohio has a “heartbeat” abortion law in place, which took effect after the June 24 U.S. Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade, whereas Indiana at the time allowed abortions until 22 weeks’ gestation.
In late November, Rokita asked the state’s medical licensing board to discipline Bernard, contending that she “violated the law, her patient’s trust, and the standards for the medical profession when she disclosed her patient’s abuse, medical issues, and medical treatment” to a reporter.
For her part, Bernard had sued in November to stop Rokita from issuing subpoenas over patients’ medical records, IndyStar reported, with her attorneys arguing that the “consumer complaints” Rokita used as a pretext to investigate Bernard came from people who had never interacted with the doctor.