Indiana board reprimands, fines doctor for speaking publicly about abortion for 10-year-old rape victim

Washington — Indiana’s medical licensing board on Thursday issued a letter of reprimand and fined an obstetrician who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio. The Board concluded that Dr. Caitlin Barnard Violated patient confidentiality laws when he discussed the procedure with a reporter.

The decision came after a lengthy meeting of the Indiana Medical Licensing Board, which ultimately found Bernard violated state privacy laws when he discussed the 10-year-old’s case with an Indianapolis Star reporter. The board declined to suspend Bernard’s license, but issued a $3,000 fine — $1,000 for each of the three counts for which he was found liable — and a letter of reprimand.

The meeting, which stemmed from Attorney General Todd Roketta’s complaint against the doctor in November, included testimony from several witnesses, including Barnard himself.

Barnard told the board that when she spoke publicly, she wasn’t making a statement about abortion, but rather that she believed it was important for Indiana residents to know that the Supreme Court’s side From Roe v. Abortion may be banned in the state after Wade is overturned. Forcing patients seeking abortion care to travel out of state.

He said that abortion is not a political issue. “Abortion is part of comprehensive health care and needs to be fully within the realm of public health.”

Barnard said he’s not sure she would face the licensing board if the attorney general “didn’t choose to make this her own political stunt.”

In response to the board’s decision, Rokita thanked members for their “extraordinary time and consideration” and said the matter was one of confidentiality and trust.

“As we have said for a year, this case was about patient confidentiality and the trust between doctor and patient that was broken,” he said in a statement. “What if it was your child or your patient or your sibling who was going through a sensitive medical crisis, and the doctor, who you thought was on your side, went to the press for political reasons? Ran? That’s not true, and the facts we presented today make it clear.”

Bernard made headlines last year when he told Indianapolis Star that he had been contacted by a child abuse doctor in Ohio about a 10-year-old pregnant woman who was seeking an abortion outside of Ohio because of the state’s abortion law, which involved fetal heart failure. The procedure is discontinued once activity is detected, usually around six weeks gestation

Bernard said in one Interview with CBS Evening News that she could not confirm that she performed an abortion, but state records confirmed that she provided a medical abortion to a 10-year-old child on June 30, when the Supreme Court decided in Roe v. Overruled Wade.

After the revelation, Rokita sought to punish Bernard, alleging that he had violated reporting and patient confidentiality laws.

Separately, Bernard Filed a case against Rokita last year, alleging that it relied on “baseless” consumer complaints to launch “overbroad” investigations of doctors who provided abortion care, and of its patients. Issued subpoenas seeking confidential medical records.

The lawsuit claims Rokita began investigating at seven. Consumer complaints were filed against Barnard after she came under scrutiny for performing abortions and releasing subpoenas, which the doctor’s lawyers say served no legitimate investigative purpose. “What?”