The infuriating story of the 10- year- old rape victim in Ohio being denied an abortion because she was beyond the state's new 6 week limit, having to go to Indiana for care, has drawn out the worst in Republican extremists. You had the likes of the sexual assault protector and coup enabler Rep. Jim "Gym" Jordan claiming the story was false, only to be proven wrong a day later when the perpetrator was arrested by Columbus, Ohio police. There's also the case of Indiana's Attorney General Todd "Turd" Rokita, an extremist Trumpist, who is going after the Indianapolis obstetrician, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, who performed the abortion, falsely and despicably smearing her for not file mandatory reports to the state. It was, of course, a lie:
"Now we learn that a local Fox affiliate in Indiana was able to find out through a simple public records request that Bernard not only filed the report on the termination of the pregnancy but also reported that the patient was a victim of abuse — even though the abuse occurred not in Indiana but the neighboring state of Ohio, where it was also reported to authorities by the girl’s physician.
In other words Rokita went forward with a series of defamatory claims and accusations against Bernard and called down a nationwide campaign of harassment and vilification against her apparently without even the most cursory of records checks that were not only available to him as attorney general but members of the public in roughly 24 hours.
Clearly Rokita, who earlier served as a member of Congress, is a scoundrel. There is a lengthy history of violence, going as far as murder, against doctors who perform abortions, especially when they are at the center of national media campaigns." (our emphasis)
That the Party of Trump would be full of liars is not surprising. What's loathsome is their abuse of a pregnant 10 year old girl, who, if their party had their way, would have been forced to have that baby at the risk of her own life.
UPDATE: Rokita needs to face consequences for his lies and smears, and they may be coming --
The attorney for Dr. Caitlin Bernard, the Indianapolis obstetrician-gynecologist who provided an abortion for a 10-year-old child abuse victim, has sent a cease and desist order on Dr. Bernard’s behalf to Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita Friday afternoon.
The cease and desist order sent by Kathleen DeLaney of DeLaney & DeLaney LLC read in part, ““Please cease and desist from making false and misleading statements about alleged misconduct by Dr. Bernard in her profession, which constitute defamation per se. Moreover, to the extent that any statement you make exceeds the general scope of your authority as Indiana’s Attorney General, such a statement forms the basis of an actionable defamation claim.”
Bernard's attorney indicated that others who've made inflammatory and false statements about the doctor's actions may also face legal consequences.
(photo: Red hat cultist Rokita. YouTube)
