Republican AG says he'll investigate Indiana doctor who provided care to 10-year-old rape victim

Authored by politico.com and submitted by Orbitingkittenfarm

There are strict reporting requirements in both Ohio and Indiana for abortions and rape allegations. Rokita doubled down on his threats of criminal charges in a letter dated Wednesday but released publicly on Thursday. The letter, to Gov. Eric Holcomb, a Republican, called for records from the Indiana Department of Public Health and the Department of Child Services to determine whether Bernard filed a report within the required three-day window.

“If Dr. Bernard has failed to file the required reports on time, she has committed an offense, the consequences of which could include criminal prosecution and licensing repercussions,” the letter said.

Ohio’s Republican attorney general, Dave Yost, said on Fox News on Monday that there was no evidence of a report being filed for the 10-year-old’s case, though based on the felony complaint, a police report was generated in late June for the rape of the child.

The account about the young girl has garnered national attention amid the fall of the constitutional right to abortion in the United States — and has become a key focus of the abortion debate. The account sparked intense dialogue in Washington, with some questioning the story’s validity, particularly after President Joe Biden cited the episode last week while slamming the court’s decision in a major speech on abortion policy.

“She was forced to have to travel out of the state to Indiana to seek to terminate the pregnancy and maybe save her life,” Biden said in remarks at the White House last week. “Ten years old — 10 years old! — raped, six weeks pregnant, already traumatized, was forced to travel to another state.”

The speculation stopped on Wednesday when Gerson Fuentes, 27, was arrested and charged with the rape of the girl, a felony of the first degree in Ohio. Police say he confessed to raping the child at least twice. The Columbus Dispatch first reported the arrest.

The clean-up followed shortly after the news of the arrest. Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan deleted a tweet in which he had called the story “another lie.” The Wall Street Journal editorial page had to walk back on an editorial titled “An Abortion Story Too Good To Confirm” that called the case a “fanciful” tale. And Yost, who originally cast doubt on the story, tweeted on Wednesday that his “heart aches” for the child and that he was grateful for the arrest — not acknowledging his previous skepticism.

Even before Biden used the example in his remarks, the case was already receiving significant attention. The Indianapolis Star reported on July 1 that Bernard received a call from a child abuse doctor in Ohio three days after the Supreme Court overturned Roe. Bernard put out her own statement on Wednesday night.

“My heart breaks for all survivors of sexual assault and abuse. I am so sad that our country is failing them when they need us most,” Bernard wrote on Twitter. “Doctors must be able to give people the medical care they need, when and where they need it.”

Aside from Rokita’s threats, it’s not yet clear whether Indiana will actually prosecute Bernard. But abortion rights activists and legal experts have been warning for weeks of the unprecedented legal risks doctors face in the wake of Roe’s fall.

saved_by_the_keeper on July 14th, 2022 at 13:17 UTC »

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 abortion in our state

Excuse me? How is it public interest if any woman is having an abortion?

m1j2p3 on July 14th, 2022 at 12:24 UTC »

The cruelty here is shocking. A 10 year old girl was raped and they’re going to expend resources trying to prosecute the people who gave the child aid. These people are downright evil.

I_like_the_word_MUFF on July 14th, 2022 at 12:23 UTC »

The party of FORCED BIRTH is keeping to its promises.

Women are second class citizens now because of them. None of this Idiocracy should shock us anymore.