By Dareh GregorianNBC
News
The attorney for the doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim sent Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita a cease-and-desist letter Friday demanding he stop making "false or misleading statements" about the medical.
The letter was sent after Rokita said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday that she was investigating Dr. Caitlin Bernard, who earlier this month told The Indianapolis Star that she treated a 10-year-old rape victim. years that she was unable to obtain an abortion in her home state of Ohio due to a "fetal heartbeat" law.
That state law, which was enacted after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v.
Wade prohibits abortions around the sixth week of pregnancy.
Bernard said the girl was just over six weeks pregnant.
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Rokita said in the interview that he was "gathering evidence" against Bernard, "including examining her license" and determining whether "she failed to report" the proceeding in Indiana because "it is a crime to intentionally fail to report."
In her letter to Rokita, Bernard's attorney, Kathleen DeLaney, said, "Please cease and desist from making false and misleading statements about Dr. Bernard's alleged misconduct in her profession, which constitute defamation per se. Further, To the extent any statement exceeds the general scope of his authority as Indiana Attorney General, that statement may become the basis of a defamation claim."
Cease and desist from making false and misleading statements about Dr. Bernard's alleged misconduct."
Kathleen DeLaney, Bernard's attorney
Rokita repeated many of the comments he made on Fox News in a statement issued Thursday, when he questioned whether Bernard had violated health privacy laws by disclosing the existence of the case to the newspaper.
In a statement released earlier Friday, Bernard's employer, Indiana University Health, said it had "conducted an investigation with the full cooperation of Bernard and other members of the IU Health team" and "found that Bernard complied with privacy laws ".
[10-Year-Old Abuse Victim Denied An Abortion In Ohio]
NBC News obtained a Pregnancy Termination Report from the Indiana Department of Health showing that Bernard had reported the procedure within the required time frame.
A Washington Post review of state records also found no issues with Bernard's medical license.
In Friday's letter, DeLaney said, "His false and defamatory statements to Fox News on July 13, 2022 cast a shadow over Bernard and alleging misconduct in his profession."
In addition, the attorney added that: "Even after the release of the Terminated Pregnancy Report, through public record requests confirming that Bernard fully complied with all applicable laws, his subsequent statements to local and national news on 14 July 2022, further affect Dr. Bernard and mislead consumers and patients."
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DeLaney also expressed concern that "because of the controversial political context of the statements, such inflammatory accusations have the potential to incite harassment or violence from the public."
A spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, Kelly Stevenson, said of the letter: "Like any correspondence, it will be reviewed when it arrives. Regardless, no false or misleading statements have been made."
