- Dr. Caitlin Bernard faced harassment after being identified by an anti-abortion group, The Guardian reported.
- The Indiana OB-GYN previously testified that she was alerted about a kidnapping threat against her daughter.
- Bernard has come under fire after performing an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio.
The Indiana doctor who provided abortion care to a 10-year-old rape victim previously faced threats against her family, including a kidnapping threat against her daughter.
Dr. Caitlin Bernard testified in 2021 that she stopped performing abortions at a South Bend clinic after being alerted that a kidnapping threat had been made against her daughter, The Guardian reported.
At the time of the threat, Bernard's identifying information had been posted to an anti-abortion group's website, The Guardian reported earlier this year. The group, Right to Life Michiana, listed the names, past education, and locations of several doctors who provide abortions in the area under a tab on their website called "Take Action," on which the doctors were called a "Local Abortion Threat."
The executive director of the group, Jackie Appleman, previously told the Guardian that the group lists "publicly available information" and doesn't "encourage harm, threats or harassment."
Bernard, an OB-GYN who routinely traveled several hours to the Whole Woman's Health Clinic in South Bend to perform abortions, paused services after she was informed by Planned Parenthood, who cited the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that a kidnapping threat was made against her daughter, The Guardian reported.
"I felt it would be best for me to limit my travel and exposure during that time," Bernard testified in a 2021 case on abortion restrictions in the state of Indiana, per The Guardian. "I was concerned that there may be people who would be able to identify me during that travel, as well as it's a very small clinic without any privacy for the people who are driving in and out, and so therefore, people could directly see me."
Bernard has faced national attention after she told The Columbus Dispatch about an abortion she provided to a child who traveled to Indiana from Ohio, where abortion is banned after six weeks gestation, to receive care.
After President Joe Biden mentioned the case during a major speech about abortion policy in the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, some conservative outlets and politicians, including Ohio's Republican attorney general, appeared to doubt Biden's telling of the story, leading fact-checkers to hunt down details on the rape victim and the doctor who performed her abortion. A suspect was later arrested.
On Wednesday, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said he would investigate Bernard, telling Fox News that his office was "gathering evidence" and that he suspected Bernard did not properly report the child's abuse.
CNN reported that documents show Bernard did report the procedure to the Department of Health, as is required by state law. Bernard's attorney said she is "considering legal action against those who have smeared" her, including Rokita.
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