Earlier this month, Joe Biden mentioned the story of a 10-year old girl who was raped and impregnated, and was forced to travel from her home in Ohio to the state of Indiana in order to obtain an abortion. It was just one example of the kind of strife that child-bearing individuals of all ages will face in the wake of the Supreme Court’s tyrannical decision to overturn Roe v Wade. Rather than defend their position, conservatives quickly claimed that the story was clearly a lie… until a man was arrested for the crime and admitted to raping the child on at least two occasions.
Upon learning the truth of the matter, Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita acted abominably and attempted to refocus the story on Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the Indianapolis-based OB-GYN and assistant professor at Indiana University’s School of Medicine, the doctor who performed the operation. While chatting up Fox News’ resident imbecile Jesse Watters, Rokita stated that he was gathering evidence on Dr. Bernard, whom he described as an “abortion activist acting as a doctor.” Now Bernard, who did not ask to be thrust into the public spotlight, is hitting back.
According to the Indianapolis Star, Dr. Bernard has filed a claim for damages against Rokita, which could be the first step in a defamation suit. Bernard’s lawyer, Kathleen DeLaney, filed a tort claim notice on Tuesday, which stated:
Mr. Rokita’s false and misleading statements about alleged misconduct by Dr. Bernard in her profession constitute defamation per se. The statements have been and continue to be published by or on behalf of Mr. Rokita and the Office of the Attorney General. To the extent that these statements exceed the general scope of Mr. Rokita’s authority as Indiana’s Attorney General, the statement forms the basis of an actionable defamation claim against Mr. Rokita individually.
During his Fox News appearance, Rokita claimed that Bernard had “a history of failing to report” cases of child abuse and/or abortions she had performed, neither of which turned out to be true (nor did Rokita offer any evidence for this claim). According to the Indianapolis Star, Bernard—whose photo was onscreen throughout Watters and Rokita’s conversation, which put the doctor’s life in danger—is “seeking unspecified damages for security costs, legal fees, reputational harm, and emotional distress. The tort claim triggers a 90-day period for Rokita to investigate or settle the claim. After that, Bernard can file a lawsuit.”
For his part, Rokita—unsurprisingly—claims that he did nothing wrong. A spokesperson for Rokita said Bernard’s claims were “part of a divisive narrative and an attempt to distract from the important work of the office, including the duty to determine whether practitioners have violated the standards of practice in his or her profession, as well as federal and state laws. We will defend against baseless claims.”
(Via Indianapolis Star)