Attorney General Todd Rokita (R-IN) announced an official investigation into Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the doctor who treated a 10-year-old Ohio girl who sought an abortion after being impregnated by a rapist, threatening the doctor with potential criminal prosecution, loss of her medical license, and violations of HIPAA.
The heartbreaking story of the girl’s rape and pregnancy went viral this month, swept up in the partisan tensions in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade. The newly-triggered Ohio abortion law that came into effect after the court ruling restricted abortions after a fetal heartbeat is detected, often around six weeks of pregnancy, and Bernard had told the Indianapolis Star that the girl had traveled to Indiana because she was unable to get an abortion in Ohio.
Numerous conservative commentators were loudly skeptical about the story — some even going so far as to call it “fake” — before it was confirmed by the Columbus Dispatch on Wednesday.
According to local police, on June 22, the girl’s mother reported the rape and pregnancy to officials with Franklin County Children Services, who then notified law enforcement. Gerson Fuentes, a 27-year-old illegal immigrant from Guatemala, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with raping the girl, a felony of the first degree in Ohio. Police say Fuentes confessed to raping the girl at least twice. He was held in
Rokita was a guest on Jesse Watters Primetime Wednesday evening, telling the show’s host that his office was actively pursing an investigation into Bernard.
“We’re gathering the information, we’re gathering the evidence as we speak and we’re going to fight this to the end — including looking at her licensure, if she failed to report” the child’s abuse, Rokita declared.
Rokita criticized the political aspect of the media coverage, blaming the “Marxists and socialists and those in the White House who want lawlessness at the border” for the girl’s rape. “This girl was politicized, politicized for the gain of killing more babies,” he said. “That was the goal.”
“This abortion activist,” he continued, meaning Barnard, was “out there front and center” along with “the lame stream media” and “fake news.”
“Unfortunately in Indiana,” Rokita said, “the paper of record is fake news,” presumably referring to the Indy Star, although this was hours after the Dispatch article had confirmed the Star’s reporting. “And they were right there jumping in on all of this, thinking that it was going to be great for their abortionist movement when this girl
Watters called the story a “tragedy” and asked Rokita to “keep us posted what is going on with this abortion doctor and whether or not she is going to face any scrutiny.”
“I’m not letting it go,” Rokita replied.
He made good on that Thursday, issuing a statement declaring an investigation into Barnard with potential criminal prosecution, action against her license to practice medicine, and a potential HIPAA violation:
Aside from the horror caused here by illegal immigration, we are investigating this situation and are waiting for the relevant documents to prove if the abortion and/or the abuse were reported, as Dr. Caitlin Bernard had requirements to do both under Indiana law. The failure to do so constitutes a crime in Indiana, and her behavior could also affect her licensure. Additionally, if a HIPAA violation did occur, that may affect next steps as well. I will not relent in the pursuit of the truth.
Rokita also sent a letter to Gov. Eric Holcomb (R-IN) requesting his assistance in getting information from state agencies about Barnard and the 10-year-old girl.
To be clear, as shown in Fuentes’ court records and other reporting by the Dispatch and Mediaite’s sister site, Law & Crime, here is the timeline of events (all dates are this year):
May 12: Fuentes allegedly sexually assaults the girl.June 22: The girl’s mother reports her daughter&
#8217;s rape and pregnancy to officials at Franklin County Children Services, who notify law enforcement, and a police report with this date is generated.June 30: The girl has an abortion in Indiana.July 1: The Indianapolis Star story is published.July 6: The girl identifies Fuentes as her rapist, according to the probable cause affidavit filed by Columbus Police to obtain a warrant for Fuentes.July 12: Fuentes is arrested and a buccal swab taken to compare his DNA to the evidence gathered from the girl’s abortion. Fuentes is taken to the Columbus police station, where he is interviewed and confesses to raping the girl at least twice, according to the police.
In other words, at the time the girl had the abortion in Indiana, it was just over one week after her mother had already reported the rape and pregnancy to the county children services agency and the police had been notified and begun their investigation. Rokita is accusing Barnard of failing to report a crime that had already been reported.
The 1o-year-old girl, the mother who reported the crime, and the alleged rapist Fuentes all reside within Franklin County, and that is also the location where the alleged rape occurred. The appropriate law enforcement agency was therefore the local police who did in fact investigate, obtain a warrant, and arrest Fuentes.
Rokita is calling for his state government to aggressively investigate a doctor — with the threat of criminal prosecution and loss
Regarding HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulates the privacy of “Protected Health Information” (PHI) in personal medical records that can be used to identify someone who sought medical treatment. Barnard disclosed no identifying details about the girl other than her age (but not her exact birthdate, the type of data expressly mentioned by HIPAA) and the alleged crime against her, rebuffing aggressive requests from multiple media outlets across the country.
To further illustrate the point, Barnard’s refusal to identify in what town the girl lived or provide any other information about her was cited by many of the commentators who sought to cast doubt on the story, and none of them were able to identify any additional details about the girl or her alleged rapist until the Dispatch article on Wednesday.
The fact that not one of these critics were able to identify the girl or confirm any more of the story, despite their own self-declared “investigations,” presents an uphill climb for the argument that the girl’s privacy was violated, much less that the specific statutory requirements for showing a HIPAA violation have been met.
Watch the video above, via Fox News.
This article has been updated with additional information.