Indiana doctor who performed abortion on 10-year-old says proposed ban would ‘hurt all Hoosiers’
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the Indiana doctor who drew national attention after performing an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio, says the abortion ban proposed by members of Indiana’s Republican leadership would “hurt all Hoosiers.”
The bill, outlined in detail on Wednesday, would ban abortion from the time an egg is implanted in a uterus.
The measure does include certain exceptions for rape, fetal abnormalities, incest, and risk to the life of the mother. Republican State Sen. Sue Glick, a sponsor of the bill, says it would not ban the “morning after pill” or any forms of contraception, nor would it prevent doctors from treating ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages.
In a Twitter thread shared Wednesday night, Bernard shared her stance against the bill.
“I have practiced medicine for 12 years. This bill will hurt my patients and all Hoosiers. Abortion is healthcare. Healthcare decisions should be a matter solely between the patient and their trusted healthcare provider,” Bernard wrote.
She continued: “While an exception is included for survivors of rape, medicine is not about a list of ‘exceptions’ for every situation imaginable. It is about getting the care you need when you need it. So many people already have to travel far from home to seek urgent care. Now Hoosiers could face much worse access with dire consequences.”
Bernard went on to say that the bill will “strip patients of their ability” to rely on her and other doctors in a moment of crisis.
Attorneys for Bernard on Tuesday took the first step toward a defamation lawsuit against State Attorney General Todd Rokita, seeking damages for “security costs, legal fees, reputational harm, and emotional distress” after Rokita announced his office was investigating Bernard for potential criminal and professional violations in the case of the rape victim.
The tort claim says Rokita’s “false and misleading statements” about alleged misconduct by Bernard “constitute defamation per se.”
Bernard’s legal team last week sent a cease-and-desist letter to Rokita’s office, asking him to stop spreading false or misleading information about the doctor.
A spokesperson for Rokita’s office previously told News 8 that “no false or misleading statements have been made.”
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