Indiana doctor sues AG to block him from obtaining patient abortion records

An Indiana abortion provider who came under attack by the state attorney general has filed a lawsuit to block him from subpoenaing her patients' medical records – including those of a 10-year-old rape victim she treated.

In the lawsuit, Dr. Caitlin Bernard and her medical partner claim that state Attorney General Todd Rokita has been issuing subpoenas to healthcare facilities for some of their patients' records, based on complaints from people who are not their patients and may live out of state. Rokita "took the additional step of issuing sweepingly broad document subpoenas to a hospital system ... for 'the entire medical file' of the patient discussed in the news stories," according to the suit filed Thursday in Marion County, Ind.

After Bernard spoke out publicly in July about providing an abortion to a young rape victim who was denied the procedure because of an abortion ban in her home state of Ohio, Rokita suggested on Fox News, without providing evidence, that Bernard had failed to follow state reporting laws.

Indiana health officials later released documents confirming Bernard had submitted the proper paperwork. Rokita nonetheless promised to launch an investigation.