Never one to miss an opportunity to add fuel to the fire, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita again finds himself on the hot seat. Rokita has been threatened with a defamation lawsuit for his accusations against an Indiana doctor who performed an abortion on a 10-year-old Ohio girl. A notice of a tort claim was filed Tuesday on behalf of Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the Indianapolis physician who provided the girl with a medication-induced abortion in a case that’s drawn national attention.
The child was forced to come to Indiana for an abortion due to Ohio’s law banning the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. A man has been arrested and charged with raping the girl.
It’s a tragic case of a minor being abused, but Rokita turned it into a political sideshow. Conservative media outlets were questioning the legitimacy of the Indianapolis Star’s reporting of the abortion, and Rokita was the talking head they needed to further stir the pot.
Without providing any evidence of wrongdoing, Rokita said in a Fox News interview on July 13 his office would investigate whether Bernard lawfully reported the abortion involving a minor. He told Fox News host Jesse Watters that Bernard is an “abortion activist acting as a doctor with a history of failing to report.”
For an attorney general to make defamatory statements on a nationally-televised program without any proof to back his claims is perplexing. The quote, with a few word changes, would have been more accurate had it been about Rokita. Indiana’s top attorney is an anti-abortion activist acting as a lawyer with a history of failing to make sense.
Abortion is a divisive issue. Indiana lawmakers are convening this month to consider changes to abortion laws following the Supreme Court’s overturn of Roe v. Wade. Tensions are high in Indiana and across the nation. Factual information and statements are needed, not unfounded allegations.
Of course Rokita is no stranger to controversy. Rokita billed the state $2,300 for his January trip to the U.S.-Mexican border so he could attend a border security briefing hosted by Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott. He appeared on a Fox segment during his trip, and then found time to attend a Donald Trump rally.
Last year Rokita offered his “Parent Bill of Rights” in an attempt to allow parents to have more control over school curriculum. It was his partisan response to supposed critical race theory instruction.
Rokita was also one of just four state attorneys general not to sign a letter condemning the U.S. Capitol riot. His justification for not signing the letter was that the attorneys general didn’t condemn Black Lives Matter protests.
Rokita is obviously using abortion to garner political points. He was one of the state’s first officials to release a statement in support of the Supreme Court following the Roe v. Wade decision. As an elected official, we should expect that Rokita will take sides on issues. We should also expect him to act in the best interest of Hoosiers.
Accusing a doctor of a crime is serious. Indiana physicians should be concerned about what this could mean for them with, from vaccinations to abortions, heightened scrutiny over the medical profession.
Unless Rokita has information to prove his claims, he should publicly apologize to Bernard. Based on the evidence presented, her actions were legal.
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