And so it begins - Indiana becomes the media darling
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is threatening criminal charges against the doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape survivor from Ohio — a major escalation in the ongoing saga that has put the midwestern state on the frontlines of the post-Roe war.
A new letter from Rokita to Republican Gov. Eric Holcolmb dated Wednesday but released publicly on Thursday asks for records from the Indiana Department of Health and the Department of Child Services to determine whether the physician — Caitlin Bernard with Indiana University — filed the legally required reports within the 3-day window of performing the abortion.
Rokita alleges that the two state agencies have not adequately responded to his request to find out if Bernard has filed the appropriate records.
If an investigation now underway determines that the report was not filed or not filed in time, the letter warns, Bernard could face “criminal prosecution and licensing repercussions.”
Other medical workers in the state and progressive legal advocates told POLITICO they don’t believe Bernard broke any laws and say Rokita’s actions are designed to scare providers and deter them from offering abortions even in circumstances where it’s legal to do so.
“Certainly, it’s an intimidation tactic,” said Fabiola Carrión, the director of reproductive and sexual health at the National Health Law Program. “It’s currently legal in Indiana to offer abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy. And even if it wasn't, this is a life-endangerment situation. A 10-year-old with a still-developing body isn't capable of delivering a baby.”
“This is going to have a chilling effect on providers who won’t want to risk making that assessment themselves in the future,” she added. “Health care providers are generally very risk-averse. They have to pay a lot of money for liability insurance. And now they’re being targeted by people who know far less than they do about complex medical situations.”
Bernard did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
When POLITICO spoke to her in the weeks leading up to the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, she talked about her plans to keep serving patients in Indiana however she could no matter what restrictions her state imposed.
“It’s scary to think about what the next phase is going to look like,” she said in May. “But I made a commitment to do this work knowing full well that the criminalization of abortion could be a possibility. So I won't abandon it now for my own job security. This care will continue to be needed.”
The new threat from Rokita comes as Indiana — one of a dwindling number of deep red states where abortion remains legal — is just days away from kicking off a special legislative session where lawmakers are expected to take up bills to ban abortion — with the only question being what exceptions, if any, will be permitted.
The move by the attorney general — who is widely expected to one day run for either governor or senator — could not only push legislators to consider more sweeping measures to outlaw abortion but also create a chilling effect on other medical providers in the state.
“Why issue a threat before he has an idea of the full scope of the case? Why threaten the license of the doctor? Well, this is very on brand for him,” said Andrew Downs, the director of the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Perdue University. “Rokita’s comments also put pressure on the legislature to move as far towards making abortion illegal in all instances as possible.”
Indiana lawmakers will hold a special session on July 25 to consider bills related to inflation as well as abortion.
Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/indiana-ag-eyes-criminal-prosecution-of-10-year-old-rape-victim-s-abortion-doc/ar-AAZAePe?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=d031e26bec634c5f9e9108f0ed9b350b
Replies to: And so it begins - Indiana becomes the media darling
Look out for the boomerang, Fox News.
Why is this unborn child's life less sacred, Jim?
Assuming the whole story is accurate. Even so, why do you hold this child up as worthy of killing?
Stick to the article
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I’m sticking to the article’s subject. It’s not a question you want to answer.
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We’ve been through your nonsense many times already. It’s now a new subject
we can discuss.
No answer, so avoiding it. The unborn child’s life has equal worth regardless of rape jim.
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Why aren’t the sperm sacred? They’re just as alive.
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Why would they be? They are less than skin cells--don't even have a full set of human DNA.
Why argue against positions that don't exist? I guess you are trying to make the right look silly by arguing against a nonsense position, but it just makes it seem like you don't understand the issue.
A baby, before birth and after birth, has a full set of human DNA which is unique and different from the mother's DNA. Nothing changes for the baby at birth except for location and the means of nourishment. If it is a unique human after birth, it is a unique human before birth. Biological science is clear on this.
A pro-abortion person must either deny science, or deny basic human rights (which I think is where the Nazi thing came in, since they made that one of their specialties...asserting that a group of humans didn't have a right to continue living).
If sperm were sacred, you’d have holy hands. They are claiming much more here,aren’t they?
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As an Indiana resident, it is embarrassing to hear Indiana in the same sentence with abortion.
That's how my state is seen now to the nation.
You should try reading some of your posts if you want embarrassment.
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You've been taken to the woodshed around here so many times, I'd probably back off the jabs.
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This was the little girl who was raped by the illegal immigrant?
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Did you bother reading the article?
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I was just asking to make sure I had the same girl. Plus, I do a lot of root
Cause analysis for work and I got this one solved already. So is it the same girl who was raped by the illegal immigrant?
Yeah, you're a college grad.
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So you’re not gonna answer?
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Read the article, Gup. Then comment on the article if you think you're capable.
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Yup. Same guy. Close the border and this girl wouldn’t have had to go through this.
MSDNC. Same network that make Nick Sandmann a rich man.
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The extremists drive the pro-life bus
Every sperm is sacred
Every sperm is great
The extremists blow it up.
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Sperm?...not a human being...just a cell w/half DNA. Maybe a law to end that guys sperm is in order.
Why lie about the Right to make them seem crazier than they are? Maybe the Right is too normal for you?
And, of course, you fail to mention the crazy extremist Left which won't accept compromise...and which would groom that 10 year old for sex in the classroom. Face it, the extermist Left is far more bizarre. We don't have to make stuff up about what they want.
“ which would groom that 10 year old for sex in the classroom”
Religious fanatics are morons, no matter what the religion.
Your party voted to allow mothers to kill after-birth children, you Nazi.
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You are a walking advertisement for the importance of abortion
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Always taking the moral high ground.
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I’m not allowed to respond to being called a Nazi and a jerkoff? Gotcha.
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I see now what offends you. Not killing children. Just being called a Nazi.
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Boy, Gumby, you really can twist.
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Victim?
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Granted, Nazi is a bit over the top.
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I see what you did there.
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Oooo, mic drop!
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No comment on the article about Indiana Attorney General prosecuting the Dr.?
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Trick question? How can a Democrat like me answer if I don't know the doctor's race?
...or his immigration status?
Well, easy. You being a far right extremist democrat like Cruz
should have no difficulty in passing on your radical minded conditioned thoughts.
You will take Carlson for the daily double.