Judge to consider blocking AG Rokita from accessing abortion patient’s records

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An emergency hearing has been set for Friday morning on the preliminary injunction filed last week against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita by the Indiana doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old girl from Ohio in June.

The suit was filed Nov. 3 in Marion County on behalf of Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis OB-GYN, and her medical partner, Dr. Amy Caldwell. The suit seeks to block Rokita from using “frivolous consumer complaints” to issue subpoenas seeking medical records in order to continue his “baseless investigation into physicians who provide abortion care,” according to a statement from the law firm representing the two doctors.

The suit was filed after Rokita announced in July he would investigate Bernard for potential criminal and professional violations. Bernard responded by sending a cease-and-desist letter to the attorney general’s office.

“Dr. Bernard and Caldwell, along with their patients, seek to stop Rokita from infringing upon patient-doctor confidentiality and prevent future unchecked oversteps by the Attorney General,” the law firm representing Bernard and Caldwell said in a Thursday statement.