Doctor who provided abortion for 10-year-old rape victim moves to sue Indiana attorney general for defamation

The attorney for a physician who presented abortion expert services to a 10-year-outdated rape target moved to file a defamation lawsuit versus Indiana Legal professional Standard Todd Rokita.

An legal professional for Dr. Caitlin Bernard on Tuesday filed a tort assert, a precursor to a lawsuit, immediately after Rokita advised regional and countrywide media retailers that he was investigating the doctor right after she carried out the technique on a client who could not get an abortion in her home condition of Ohio.

Rokita’s office environment did not promptly react to a request for comment.

Ohio enacted a “fetal heartbeat” law, banning abortions at all around the six-week mark of being pregnant, after the U.S. Supreme Court docket overturned Roe. v Wade previous month. The woman was just more than 6 weeks pregnant, Bernard explained to The Indianapolis Star.

Indiana legislators are getting ready for a unique session to discussion banning abortion later in July, but the method is currently nevertheless lawful in the condition.

Last week, Rokita appeared on Fox News and said he was investigating Bernard after she instructed The Indianapolis Star about dealing with the woman. He mentioned he was “gathering the evidence” versus Bernard, “including on the lookout at her licensure” and no matter if “she failed to report” the treatment in Indiana because “it’s a criminal offense to not report, to deliberately not report.”

The attorney basic also explained in the segment that Bernard was an “abortion activist performing as a doctor” with a “history of failing to report.”

Rokita recurring several of his Fox Information remarks in a statement through his office environment, prompting Bernard’s lawyer on Friday to mail the lawyer basic a cease-and-desist letter. In his statement, Rokita further questioned no matter whether Bernard violated health privacy regulations by speaking about the girl’s case with The Indianapolis Star.

“Mr. Rokita’s wrong and deceptive statements about alleged misconduct by Dr. Bernard in her career represent defamation for every se,” Tuesday’s tort assert reads.

“The statements have been and continue to be released by or on behalf of Mr. Rokita and the Place of work of the Lawyer Standard. To the extent that these statements exceed the normal scope of Mr. Rokita’s authority as Indiana’s Legal professional Common, the statement kinds the foundation of an actionable defamation claim in opposition to Mr. Rokita individually.”

The tort declare states Rokita possibly knew his opinions were phony or he “acted with reckless disregard of the real truth or falsity of the statements.”

In regard to his Fox News remarks that Bernard was an “abortion activist” that had a “historical past of failing to report,” her lawyers claimed in the assert that a look at of Indiana’s health-related license databases would have revealed that the medical doctor experienced “no disciplinary historical past.”

Bernard’s employer, Indiana College Health, formerly claimed that an investigation uncovered that the physician was “in compliance with privateness legislation.”

NBC Information also attained a Terminated Pregnancy Report from the Indiana Department of Well being displaying Bernard had described the procedure inside the demanded timeframe.

Dareh Gregorian contributed.