INDIANAPOLIS — Attorney General Todd Rokita has been served with a cease and desist order by attorneys representing the doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old girl.
The girl was a rape victim from Ohio who came to Indiana for an abortion. The man suspected of raping her is in custody.
Rokita says he’s investigating if the doctor properly reported the abortion to the proper authorities, which paperwork from the State Department of Health and the Department of Child Services says she did.
Rokita called Bernard an “abortion activist” on Fox News and said that she had a “history of failing to report.” Dr. Caitlin Bernard’s lawyers want Rokita to cease his investigation and said his comments about the investigation on Fox News “constitute defamation.”
As lawmakers gear up to discuss the issue of abortion in a special session, some experts, even within the Republican party are skeptical of how Rokita went about the whole situation.
“Does he have the authority to investigate this doctor? Yes. Does he have the authority to bring possible charges or licensing issues against her? Yes,” said Hamilton County GOP Chairman Mario Massillamany, who is also an attorney in Fishers. “Should he have waited until he had all the facts, more than likely.”
Massillamany tells All Indiana Politics that he believes that Rokita should be focusing on the illegal immigration aspect of the case rather than whether what Dr. Bernard did was lawful or not. The man charged with raping the 10-year-old girl, Gershon Fuentes, 27, is in the country illegally.
He said the issue of abortion will never satisfy everyone.
“This is not going to be an easy issue for Republicans, but it’s not going to be an easy issue for Democrats either,” Massillamany said. “I think no one in this discussion or debate, no matter what law is passed, will be happy. I don’t think Republicans will be happy. I don’t think Democrats will be happy either.”
Rokita’s office has not responded to the cease and desist order publicly and it’s not clear if Rokita has halted his investigation of Dr. Bernard. On Twitter, Bernard says she’s thankful for “the outpouring of courageous support.”
