Caitlin Bernad came after Rokita asked the state medical licensing board to discipline her, alleging that Bernard had violated state law by not reporting the girl’s abuse to state authorities, as well as violated patient privacy laws by telling an Indianapolis Star reporter about the girl’s treatment.
Bernard 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 at an abortion rights rally to further her political agenda," the attorney general's office said in a Wednesday statement.
Bernard and her attorneys maintain that the girl's abuse had already been reported to the authorities in Ohio before she ever saw her, and argue that the anti-abortion Rokita has been spreading misleading or false information about the Indianapolis physician for monthsShe filed a lawsuit against the state attorney general last month, arguing that his office was wrongly justifying the investigation with frivolous" consumer complaints submitted by people with no personal knowledge about the girl’s treatmentWelch, however, ruled that the medical licensing board now had jurisdiction over the matter.Caitlin Bernard in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Sept
Bernard’s evidence to the Medical Licensing Board," Kathleen DeLaney said, according to The Associated Press.
The attorney general's office celebrated the ruling as a "win for patient privacy rights" and for "properly reporting child abuse," writing in a statement that the case was not really about abortion despite those who make it appear that wayPublic records obtained by The Associated Press show that Bernard had met Indiana’s required three-day reporting period for an abortion performed on a girl younger than 16Deputy Attorney General Caryn Nieman-Szyper said last week that Bernard would not be under investigation if she had not disclosed the girl’s rape to a reporter to advance her own advocacy of abortion rights, adding that Bernard had not shown that she had permission from the girl’s family to discuss her care in public