Abortion care provider sues Attorney General Todd Rokita over 'improper' investigations

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Brandon Smith

Article origination IPB News

Attorney General Todd Rokita went on cable television, accused Dr. Caitlin Bernard of breaking the law without any evidence and threatened to revoke her medical license.
*Alan Mbathi / IPB News*

Dr. Caitlin Bernard is suing Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita over his investigation into the abortion care she provided to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio.

The lawsuit was filed in Marion County Thursday.

Records show that Bernard filed the proper paperwork with the state after providing an abortion to a 10-year-old girl and cooperated with authorities investigating her rape.

But Attorney General Todd Rokita went on cable television earlier this year, accused Bernard of breaking the law without any evidence and threatened to revoke her medical license.

Since then, Rokita launched investigations of Bernard based, he said, on consumer complaints against her.

Bernard is suing to put a stop to that. She said the consumer complaints have no merit – a determination state law says the AG's office must make before pursuing an investigation.

The lawsuit said none of the complaints were filed by anyone who actually dealt with Bernard. Instead, they came from people who read stories about the case, many of them not even from Indiana residents.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

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