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Abortion care provider sues Attorney General Todd Rokita over 'improper' investigations

Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is engaged in a legal battle on multiple fronts against Dr. Caitlin Bernard.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita is engaged in a legal battle on multiple fronts against Dr. Caitlin Bernard.

Dr. Caitlin Bernard is suing Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita over his investigation into the abortion care she provided to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio.

The lawsuit was filed in Marion County Thursday.

Records show that Bernard filed the proper paperwork with the state after providing an abortion to a 10-year-old girl and cooperated with authorities investigating her rape.

But Attorney General Todd Rokita went on cable television earlier this year, accused Bernard of breaking the law  without any evidence and threatened to revoke her medical license.

READ MORE: IU Health: Dr. Bernard complied with patient privacy laws regarding 10-year-old’s abortion

Since then, Rokita launched investigations of Bernard based, he said, on consumer complaints against her.

Bernard is suing to put a stop to that. She said the consumer complaints have no merit – a determination state law says the AG's office must make before pursuing an investigation.

The lawsuit said none of the complaints were filed by anyone who actually dealt with Bernard. Instead, they came from people who read stories about the case, many of them not even from Indiana residents.

Contact reporter Brandon at  bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at  @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon J. Smith has previously worked as a reporter and anchor for KBIA Radio in Columbia, MO. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, IL as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.