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Complaint Filed Against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita
INDIANAPOLIS–A complaint against Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita was filed Monday morning by the Indiana Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission.
That commission says there are three counts of professional misconduct against Rokita for his handling of the Dr. Caitlin Bernard case. Bernard is an Indianapolis doctor who performed an abortion for a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio last year. The commission also say the comments he made about Bernard on a Fox News show where he called her an “abortion activist” violated professional conduct.
The third accusation relates to public statements about Bernard and the investigation over a three-month period before the case had been referred to the Medical Licensing Board, violating “the duty of confidentiality.”
Rokita issued a response to the complaint that said the following:
“Hoosiers, in the largest number on record, elected me Attorney General because they knew they were getting a passionate fighter who — like them — is beating back the culture of death, grievance and transanity being pushed by radicals in workplaces, schools, media and government,” Rokita wrote in the statement. “These same radicals have fostered an environment that ‘cancels’ non-compliant citizens through intimidation as well as tactics that can weaponize our respected institutions.”
Rokita claims no confidentiality should be required where Dr. Bernard “violated her duties of confidentiality by disclosing her patient’s condition and treatment to the press at a political function,” and “further breached her duty of confidentiality by publicly discussing patient information, including in an MSNBC interview on July 6, 2023.”
Rokita has filed a lawsuit against IU Health. He says IU Health violated privacy laws. The state’s medical licensing board issued a ruling saying Bernard violated privacy laws in handling the abortion patient’s information.
“We will continue defending Indiana’s laws and ensure that licensed medical professionals and other healthcare providers are held accountable when they violate their patients’ privacy and fail to obtain consent,” said Rokita.
Indiana Supreme Court justices make the final determination if there was misconduct and what discipline is necessary.
