Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a Republican, said this week that his office will investigate the abortionist who provided care to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio.
In an interview with Fox News’ Jesse Watters this week, Rokita said his office will investigate Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an OB/GYN in Indianapolis who told the Indy Star in a story published on July 1 that she provided care to a 10-year-old patient who was six weeks and three days pregnant. Bernard was connected to the patient after receiving a call from a child abuse doctor in Ohio. Allegedly, Ohio’s pro-life laws hindered her options in the state.
“We have this abortion activist acting as a doctor with a history of failing to report,” Rokita said. “So, we’re gathering the evidence as we speak, and we’re going to fight this to the end, including looking at her [Bernard’s] licensure if she failed to report. In Indiana it’s a crime…to intentionally not report.”
“This is a child, and there’s a strong public interest in understanding if someone under the age of 16 or under the age of 18 or really any woman is having an abortion in our state. And then if a child is being sexually abused, of course parents need to know. Authorities need to know. Public policy experts we all need to know as citizens in a free republic so we can stop this. This is a horrible, horrible scene caused by Marxists and socialists and those in the White House who want lawlessness at the border and then this girl was politicized for the gain of killing more babies,” he added. “This abortion activist [Bernard] is out there front and center, the lamestream media, the fake news, is right behind it, and unfortunately, in Indiana, the paper of record is fake news and they were right there jumping in on all this thinking that is was gonna be great for their abortionist movement when this girl has been so brutalized.”
As Townhall has been following, The Columbus Dispatch reported Wednesday that 27-year-old Gerson Fuentes is charged with impregnating the 10-year-old Ohio girl who crossed state lines for an abortion (via The Columbus Dispatch):
A Columbus man has been charged with impregnating a 10-year-old Ohio girl, whose travel to Indiana to seek an abortion led to international attention following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade and activation of Ohio's abortion law.
Gerson Fuentes, 27, whose last known address was an apartment on Columbus' Northwest Side, was arrested Tuesday after police say he confessed to raping the child on at least two occasions. He's since been charged with rape, a felony of the first degree in Ohio.
Columbus police were made aware of the girl's pregnancy through a referral by Franklin County Children Services that was made by her mother on June 22, Det. Jeffrey Huhn testified Wednesday morning at Fuentes' arraignment. On June 30, the girl underwent a medical abortion in Indianapolis, Huhn said.
Huhn also testified that DNA from the clinic in Indianapolis is being tested against samples from Fuentes, as well as the child's siblings, to confirm contribution to the aborted fetus.
Franklin County Municipal Court Judge Cynthia Ebner said the case did not warrant Fuentes — who is believed to be undocumented — to be held without bond.
Townhall obtained footage of Fuentes appearing in court for the first time.
BREAKING: Video of Wednesday morning's arraignment hearing for Gerson Fuentes, the 27-year-old man who confessed to raping a 10-year-old Ohio girl believed to be at center of viral abortion story.
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) July 13, 2022
h/t @MiaCathell pic.twitter.com/bOoHHMhjBA
As Mia covered, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin confirmed via an Immigration and Customs Enforcement source that Fuentes "is a Guatemalan national in the U.S. illegally & ICE has placed a detainer on him with local law enforcement.”
Spencer reported Tuesday that Ohio Attorney General David Yost, a Republican, said in an interview this week that there was “not a whisper” within law enforcement about the 10-year-old rape victim being unable to obtain an abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
"Something maybe even more telling," Yost continued, "my office runs the state crime lab. Any case like this, you're going to have a rape kit, you're going to have biological evidence, and you would be looking for DNA analysis — which we do most of the DNA analysis in Ohio — there is no case request for analysis that looks anything like this," Yost added.
Yost’s comments came after the story was repeated by Biden in remarks from the White House about executive action on abortion.
“Just last week, it was reported that a 10-year-old girl was a rape victim. Ten years old. And she was forced to have to travel out of the state to Indiana to seek to terminate the [pregnancy] and maybe save her life. That last part is my judgment. Ten years old,” Biden said.
Pres. Biden on 10-year-old who reportedly was raped and had to travel out of state to terminate the pregnancy: “Imagine being that little girl. I'm serious, just imagine being that little girl. 10 years old!” https://t.co/jZ8JYZ6fZW pic.twitter.com/y3iRTPjfv6
— ABC News (@ABC) July 8, 2022
As Spencer noted, the pro-life laws on the books in Ohio would not have prevented the young girl from getting an abortion.
"Ohio's heartbeat law has a medical emergency exception, broader than just the life of the mother. This young girl, if she exists and if this horrible thing actually happened to her — it breaks my heart to think about it — she did not have to leave Ohio to find treatment,” Yost said.