Indiana AG to Newsmax: Suing State Health System Not About Abortion Doc

Republican Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita told Newsmax on Tuesday he is not targeting the doctor who spoke out about performing an abortion for a 10-year-old Ohio girl who was raped last summer in his lawsuit against the state’s largest healthcare system.

The lawsuit, filed Friday, claims Indiana University Health improperly prioritized its physician, Caitlin Bernard, instead of the patient’s right to confidentiality. Bernard talked to media outlets about performing the procedure shortly after the Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2022 ended the federal right to an abortion.

Bernard never mentioned the patient’s name — it turns out the girl was just over six weeks pregnant and ineligible for an abortion in Ohio. Gerson Fuentes, 28, who confessed to raping and impregnating the girl, was sentenced to life in prison in July.

“[The lawsuit] is not targeting Bernard, but her employer for doing things like not reporting the disclosure of information, not getting the consent of the little girl’s parent to go to the media,” Rokita told “American Agenda.” “Not properly training its workforce, for inconsistently treating members of its workforce. We found [many] employees of IU health have been fired for HIPAA violations that were much, much less egregious than going to MSNBC and the Indianapolis Star with the patient's chart and story.

“[Those] inconsistencies are a real problem and what I want to do, and that 36,000-member workforce, is to make sure that people aren't confused because if you don't have that trust between the patient and doctor, you don't have modern medicine.”

Rokita is facing a complaint filed Monday by the Indiana Supreme Court’s disciplinary commission regarding statements he made about Bernard.

“We're in an environment where anyone could lodge allegations, and we're in an environment where people attempt to weaponize our institutions all the time now,” Rokita said. “So, this is par for the course. We've answered the complaint already within record time, and we've made our case clear. I was elected by the people of Indiana. I have a duty to them.

“The things that I said about these cases earlier were about an international case that was evolving by the hour, and we did our best to balance everyone's interest. The fact of the matter is, we followed where the investigation took us, and we started and ended the investigation at the appropriate time. At the end of the day, the medical licensing board found Dr. Bernard liable for the things that she was saying to the world because it involved her patient. And that’s the point here.”

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