Indiana’s attorney general is suing the state’s largest health-care system for allegedly mishandling the case of a doctor who spoke out about performing an abortion for 10-year-old girl who was raped last summer. The procedure came days after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, which helped turn the girl’s case into a national story that quickly became politicized.
Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) claims that Indiana University Health improperly prioritized its physician, Caitlin Bernard, instead of the patient’s right to confidentiality, according to the lawsuit filed Friday.
The lawsuit is not even the most recent volley in the back-and-forth. Rokita violated professional conduct rules in speaking about this case, according to a ruling Monday from the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission, days after the lawsuit was filed.
“Patients should be able to trust their doctors because trust is the foundation of a patient-doctor relationship. Without trust, we do not have reliable, honest health care,” Rokita said in a recorded statement announcing the suit.
States where abortion is legal, banned or under threat
A statement provided by an IU Health spokeswoman said the hospital system holds itself accountable every day for securing the privacy of its patients. “We continue to be disappointed the Indiana Attorney General’s office persists in putting the state’s limited resources toward this matter,” she said. “We will respond directly to the AG’s office on the filing.”
The lawsuit centers on Bernard publicly talking about, but not naming the patient in, the procedure she performed in late June 2022.
Bernard told the Indianapolis Star about the girl, who crossed state lines for an abortion because of Ohio’s trigger law. The trigger law implemented a ban on abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy as soon as Roe was struck down. (The girl was 9 when she was raped and turned 10 before having the abortion, according to the Associated Press. Indiana’s legislature was the first post-Roe to effectively ban all abortions.)
Forces in the Republican-led state came after Bernard.
Though an internal IU Health review cleared Bernard of wrongdoing, Indiana’s medical license board deemed she had violated state and federal privacy laws — including The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA — by discussing the girl’s case publicly. The board fined her $3,000. Rokita, who appeared on Fox News talking about the case, opened an inquiry into her actions. Bernard at one point considered filing a defamation suit.
President Biden said the situation underscored that no child should have to cross state lines for an abortion. Some right-wing commentators and news outlets called Bernard’s story a hoax. But reporters at the Indianapolis Star and Columbus Dispatch proved the story was true.
How local journalists proved a 10-year-old’s abortion wasn’t a hoax
Franklin County Children Services notified Columbus police of a pregnant 10-year-old in late June 2022, the reporters found. About a week later, on June 30, the girl had a medical abortion in Indianapolis. The girl identified Gerson Fuentes in a police interview, and investigators arrested him July 12 — the same day Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) told Gannett’s Ohio bureau that “I know the cops and prosecutors in this state” and “there is not a damn scintilla of evidence” the investigation existed.
Fuentes, 28, took a plea deal in July 2023 for a sentence of life in prison with the chance of seeking parole in 25 years for raping the girl.
Rokita’s lawsuit filed Friday in federal court said IU Health has been inconsistent, firing employees for less serious breaches while keeping Bernard. The lawsuit said that confusion is unacceptable for the state’s largest health network, with over 36,000 team members who serve 100,000 admissions every year.
“By publicly ratifying Dr. Bernard’s misconduct, IUH has revealed a systemic flaw in its implementation and administration of HIPAA rules that affect the privacy of all its patients,” prosecutors wrote.
Indiana AG’s comments endangered abortion provider, complaint says
The AG’s office wrote that IUH’s definition of personally identifiable information includes “all elements of dates.” It said IUH’s risk assessment that cleared Bernard “failed to consider that Dr. Bernard told the reporter the precise day she received the patient referral and the week during which the abortion procedure was to be performed.”
The Washington Post reported in July 2022 that it had obtained documents showing Bernard reported the girl’s abortion to the relevant state agencies before the legally mandated deadline.
The lawsuit asks the court to enter a permanent injunction requiring IU Health to, among other things, update or create rules to safeguard patient information and prohibit its staff from disclosing sensitive patient information without proper patient approval.
Rokita said he wants the courts to impose the maximum amounts of fines and damages.
Rokita’s office did not respond to The Post’s request for information on how many taxpayer dollars have gone into the lawsuit and other efforts of the attorney general to hold Bernard accountable.
Rokita’s comments on Fox News about the case were the focus of the misconduct charges against him by the Disciplinary Commission. Rokita pushed back against the complaint, invoking “cancel culture” and saying he was proud of his record.
Rokita’s office filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of Indiana. On Monday, Joshua J. Minkler, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, submitted paperwork to the court that he would represent IU Health in the case.
Attorney General Todd Rokita (R) claims that Indiana University Health improperly prioritized its physician, Caitlin Bernard, instead of the patient’s right to confidentiality, according to the lawsuit filed Friday.
The lawsuit is not even the most recent volley in the back-and-forth. Rokita violated professional conduct rules in speaking about this case, according to a ruling Monday from the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission, days after the lawsuit was filed.
“Patients should be able to trust their doctors because trust is the foundation of a patient-doctor relationship. Without trust, we do not have reliable, honest health care,” Rokita said in a recorded statement announcing the suit.
States where abortion is legal, banned or under threat
A statement provided by an IU Health spokeswoman said the hospital system holds itself accountable every day for securing the privacy of its patients. “We continue to be disappointed the Indiana Attorney General’s office persists in putting the state’s limited resources toward this matter,” she said. “We will respond directly to the AG’s office on the filing.”
The lawsuit centers on Bernard publicly talking about, but not naming the patient in, the procedure she performed in late June 2022.
Bernard told the Indianapolis Star about the girl, who crossed state lines for an abortion because of Ohio’s trigger law. The trigger law implemented a ban on abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy as soon as Roe was struck down. (The girl was 9 when she was raped and turned 10 before having the abortion, according to the Associated Press. Indiana’s legislature was the first post-Roe to effectively ban all abortions.)
Forces in the Republican-led state came after Bernard.
Though an internal IU Health review cleared Bernard of wrongdoing, Indiana’s medical license board deemed she had violated state and federal privacy laws — including The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, HIPAA — by discussing the girl’s case publicly. The board fined her $3,000. Rokita, who appeared on Fox News talking about the case, opened an inquiry into her actions. Bernard at one point considered filing a defamation suit.
President Biden said the situation underscored that no child should have to cross state lines for an abortion. Some right-wing commentators and news outlets called Bernard’s story a hoax. But reporters at the Indianapolis Star and Columbus Dispatch proved the story was true.
How local journalists proved a 10-year-old’s abortion wasn’t a hoax
Franklin County Children Services notified Columbus police of a pregnant 10-year-old in late June 2022, the reporters found. About a week later, on June 30, the girl had a medical abortion in Indianapolis. The girl identified Gerson Fuentes in a police interview, and investigators arrested him July 12 — the same day Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost (R) told Gannett’s Ohio bureau that “I know the cops and prosecutors in this state” and “there is not a damn scintilla of evidence” the investigation existed.
Fuentes, 28, took a plea deal in July 2023 for a sentence of life in prison with the chance of seeking parole in 25 years for raping the girl.
Rokita’s lawsuit filed Friday in federal court said IU Health has been inconsistent, firing employees for less serious breaches while keeping Bernard. The lawsuit said that confusion is unacceptable for the state’s largest health network, with over 36,000 team members who serve 100,000 admissions every year.
“By publicly ratifying Dr. Bernard’s misconduct, IUH has revealed a systemic flaw in its implementation and administration of HIPAA rules that affect the privacy of all its patients,” prosecutors wrote.
Indiana AG’s comments endangered abortion provider, complaint says
The AG’s office wrote that IUH’s definition of personally identifiable information includes “all elements of dates.” It said IUH’s risk assessment that cleared Bernard “failed to consider that Dr. Bernard told the reporter the precise day she received the patient referral and the week during which the abortion procedure was to be performed.”
The Washington Post reported in July 2022 that it had obtained documents showing Bernard reported the girl’s abortion to the relevant state agencies before the legally mandated deadline.
The lawsuit asks the court to enter a permanent injunction requiring IU Health to, among other things, update or create rules to safeguard patient information and prohibit its staff from disclosing sensitive patient information without proper patient approval.
Rokita said he wants the courts to impose the maximum amounts of fines and damages.
Rokita’s office did not respond to The Post’s request for information on how many taxpayer dollars have gone into the lawsuit and other efforts of the attorney general to hold Bernard accountable.
Rokita’s comments on Fox News about the case were the focus of the misconduct charges against him by the Disciplinary Commission. Rokita pushed back against the complaint, invoking “cancel culture” and saying he was proud of his record.
Rokita’s office filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of Indiana. On Monday, Joshua J. Minkler, a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, submitted paperwork to the court that he would represent IU Health in the case.
