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Abortion care provider drops lawsuit against Attorney General Rokita-focus shifts to licensing board

Lauren Chapman

Indiana abortion care provider Dr. Caitlin Bernard dropped her lawsuit against Attorney General Todd Rokita Thursday.

The suit sought to halt Rokita’s investigation of Bernard. The doctor’s legal team said it’s now focusing on her case in front of the Indiana Medical Licensing Board.

Rokita began investigating consumer complaints against Bernard as he went on television and accused her, without evidence, of breaking the law around an abortion she provided to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio.

Bernard filed a lawsuit in Indiana court trying to halt that investigation after Rokita sought access to the patient’s full medical record.

A county judge last week ruled that Rokita violated Indiana law by breaking confidentiality. But the judge also refused to halt the Attorney General’s investigation because Rokita had already officially filed a complaint against Bernard with the state medical licensing board.

READ MORE: Rokita files complaint with medical licensing board against abortion care provider

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For that same reason, Bernard’s legal team said it’s now dropping the lawsuit, focused instead on defending the doctor in front of the licensing board.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Copyright 2022 IPB News. To see more, visit .

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.