Doctor Who Performed Abortion on Ten-Year-Old Rape Victim Sends Indiana AG Cease-and-Desist Letter

The attorney for the doctor who performed an abortion on a ten-year-old rape victim sent Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita a cease-and-desist letter Friday urging him to stop what he said were mischaracterizations of her conduct.

Dr. Caitlin Bernard originally told The Indianapolis Star that she provided the abortion to the child, who allegedly was forced to travel from Ohio, where the procedure is prohibited after a fetal heartbeat is detected. Bernard claimed the girl was six weeks and three days pregnant when she obtained the abortion.

“Please cease and desist from making false and misleading statements about alleged misconduct by Dr. Bernard in her profession, which constitute defamation per se. Moreover, to the extent that any statement you make exceeds the general scope of your authority as Indiana’s Attorney General, such a statement forms the basis of an actionable defamation claim,” Bernard’s lawyer, Kathleen DeLaney, wrote in the letter to Attorney General Rokita.

The perpetrator of the sexual abuse was identified last week as 27-year-old Gershon Fuentes, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who confessed to raping the child at least twice, according to the Columbus Dispatch. He was arrested, charged with rape, and held in custody on $2 million bond, the publication reported.

The cease-and-desist letter comes after Rokita announced Wednesday that his office would investigate Bernard, at least partially to examine whether she violated health-privacy laws by discussing the case with the press.

“We’re gathering the evidence as we speak, and we’re going to fight this to the end, including looking at her licensure if she failed to report. And in Indiana it’s a crime . . . to intentionally not report,” Attorney General Todd Rokita said on Fox News on Wednesday night. “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. And then if a child is being sexually abused, of course parents need to know. Authorities need to know. Public policy experts need to know.”