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Who is Dr Caitlin Bernard? Indiana AG launches probe against doctor for aiding Ohio rape victim, 10

The Indiana doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim is now being investigated by the state's Attorney General
PUBLISHED JUL 15, 2022
Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) launched a probe against Dr Caitlin Bernard (L), an Indiana doctor who provided abortion facility to the 10-year-old Ohio rape victim (Caitlin Bernard/Twitter and Todd Rokita/Facebook)
Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) launched a probe against Dr Caitlin Bernard (L), an Indiana doctor who provided abortion facility to the 10-year-old Ohio rape victim (Caitlin Bernard/Twitter and Todd Rokita/Facebook)

INDIANAPOLIS: News and controversies have swirled around in recent days regarding a 10-year-old unnamed victim of sexual assault who had to travel to Indiana from her home state Ohio to get an abortion from Dr Caitlin Bernard, who provides an abortion facility in Indiana. However, now the case has hit a new headline that tells Bernand is now being probed. The headline drew attention after Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita called Dr Caitlin Bernard, an OB-GYN who works out of two different clinics in Indiana, an “abortion activist acting as a doctor” who has a “history of failing to report” criminal incidents.

“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,” Rokita, a pro-life Republican, said in a statement Thursday, July 14. “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 the next steps as well. I will not relent in the pursuit of the truth.”

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According to the letter released by AG Rokita, Bernard did not provide any documents to prove that the abortion or the abuse were reported. Rokita also mentioned that one of the staff members of the Attorney General's office called the Indiana Department of Health to ask for all the Termination of Pregnancy Reports (TRPs) within the last 30 days to review the reported abortion by Bernard on the 10-year-old victim. However, no TRPs were not provided by Bernard.

Bernard, 37, who lives with her husband in a modest two-story home just outside Indianapolis, has advocated for abortion rights in over 20 print and broadcast outlets since 2017. But, since the questions have surrounded her, she has not responded to any of them in regard to the probe. After the arrest of the 27-year-old accuser Gershon Fuentes, Bernard finally broke her silence. “My heart breaks for all survivors of sexual assault and abuse,” Bernard said in a tweet. “I am so sad that our country is failing them when they need us most. Doctors must be able to give people the medical care they need, when and where they need it.”

Gerson Fuentes, 27, was arrested on Tuesday, July 12 and has been charged with one count of rape after police say he confessed to raping the child two different times (Franklin County Jail)
Gerson Fuentes, 27, was arrested on Tuesday, July 12, and has been charged with one count of rape after police say he confessed to raping the child two different times (Franklin County Jail)

The case was first reported earlier this month by The Indianapolis Star, that a 10-year-old rape victim traveled from Ohio to Indiana for abortion services three days after it became illegal in her home state. On Monday, June 27, three days after the Supreme Court issued its groundbreaking decision to overturn Roe v Wade, Dr Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist who provides abortion services, took a call from a colleague, a child abuse doctor in Ohio. The child was six weeks and three days pregnant then.

The case quickly went viral and became a top talking point for abortion rights supporters, including President Joe Biden."Imagine being that little girl," Biden said Friday, July 8 as he decried the high court’s decision. "I’m serious. Just imagine being that little girl, This isn't some imagined horror," Biden said. "It is already happening. Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim - 10 years old - and she was forced to have to travel out of state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life," he added.

Biden slammed the Supreme Court for its decision. He called the justices ''out of control'' and worked with ''extremist elements of the Republican Party". Whereas, Republicans refused the case and labeled it as unproven. One day before Fuentes’ arrest on Tuesday, July 12, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said that there was “not a whisper of evidence” that a 10-year-old girl had been raped in the state recently.

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Yost also insisted that the girl “did not have to leave Ohio to get treatment” because the state’s heartbeat law allows for exceptions like this one. But on Thursday, July 14, Ohio’s Legislative Service Commission stated in a letter that the state has banned all abortions no matter the circumstances of conception or the age of the mother, with just two exceptions 1) when a fetal heartbeat is not detected — typically around six weeks — and 2) in order to prevent the death or serious impairment of a pregnant woman. It is not known whether a fetal heartbeat was detected in the case of the 10-year-old.

The case remains under investigation and prosecutors await a response from Bernard.

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