Late last week, the Indiana medical board ruled that a doctor who provided an abortion to a 10-year-old rape victim and spoke about it with the press violated her young patient’s privacy.
To recap, Townhall covered last year how Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an Indianapolis-based OB-GYN, stepped into the national spotlight after she told a reporter from the Indianapolis Star, which is affiliated with USA Today, that she provided a 10-year-old girl who was raped with a medication abortion around the time the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The reason why, the doctor claimed, was because Ohio laws would not have allowed the girl to obtain an abortion. Predictably, the story blew up, and President Joe Biden referenced it in remarks from the White House at one point. It was later revealed that the man who impregnated the young child was an illegal immigrant and in a relationship with the girl’s mother.
BREAKING: The suspected rapist accused of impregnating the 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio was arrested Tuesday and booked into Franklin County Jail.
— Mia Cathell (@MiaCathell) July 13, 2022
Columbus Dispatch says bond was set at $2 million and that Gershon Fuentes, 27, is believed to be an "undocumented" immigrant. pic.twitter.com/x3GJ36Y5iY
According to a Friday report from The New York Times, the state’s medical board voted to issue Bernard a letter of reprimand and a fine of $3,000. The board reportedly voted against penalties such as suspension or probation. The board cleared Bernard of allegations that the failed to appropriately report the girl’s rape to authorities. The decision came after legal pursuit by Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita (R).
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“I don’t think she intended for this to go viral,” Dr. John Strobel, the president of the medical board, told the outlet. “But I do think we as physicians need to be more careful in this situation.”
Bernard reportedly told the IndyStar about the abortion during a rally last year.
“This case was about patient privacy and the trust between the doctor and the patient that was broken,” Rokita said in a statement to the outlet. “What if it was your child or your patient or your sibling who was going through a sensitive medical crisis, and the doctor, who you thought was on your side, ran to the press for political reasons?”
In addition to the initial interview with the IndyStar, appeared in an on-camera interview with CBS Evening News.
During the medical board hearing, Bernard reportedly said “I think it’s incredibly important for people to understand the real-word impacts of the laws of this country,”and that she “did not anticipate” that the public would zero in on the 10-year-old rape victim’s case.
Her employer, Indiana University Health, found that she did not violate HIPAA rules. But, six doctors and one attorney on the board decided that she provided the girl’s age, home state, abortion, and rape, which qualified as “identifying information.”
In a statement, IU Health said they believe Bernard was "compliant" with privacy laws.
NEW: IU Health says it disagrees with the Indiana Medical Licensing Board’s decision that Dr. Caitlin Bernard violated patient privacy laws when telling The Indianapolis Star that she provided abortion care to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio. @CBS4Indy @FOX59 pic.twitter.com/1qeb6mBmHV
— Kristen Eskow (@KristenEskow) May 26, 2023
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