INDIANAPOLIS -- Supporters of an Indianapolis doctor voiced frustration Friday with the Indiana medical board's decision that she violated patient privacy laws when she talked with a newspaper reporter about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim.
The board's vote late Thursday to issue a letter of reprimand against Dr. Caitlin Bernard won't limit her ability to practice medicine in the state, and the hospital system where she works said it stood by its finding that she followed privacy rules. The medical board rejected allegations that Bernard failed to properly report suspected child abuse and was unfit to have a medical license.
Some of Bernard's colleagues criticized the Medical Licensing Board's vote and the state attorney general's pursuit of disciplinary action against her as trying to intimidate doctors in Indiana, where the Republican-dominated Legislature enacted an abortion ban last year that courts have put on hold.
Bernard's revelation of the girl traveling to Indiana to receive abortion drugs turned her case into a flash point in the national abortion debate days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. Some news outlets and Republican politicians falsely suggested Bernard fabricated the story until a 27-year-old man was charged with the rape in Columbus, Ohio. During an event at the White House, President Joe Biden nearly shouted his anger over the case.
Republican Attorney General Todd Rokita, who is outspokenly anti-abortion, touted the board's decision as supporting his arguments that Bernard broke "the trust between the doctor and patient."
The board's vote to reprimand Bernard and fine her $3,000 was far short of the medical license suspension that Rokita's office asked the panel to impose.
IU Health said in a Friday statement that it was pleased Bernard would remain among its doctors.
"We do not agree with the board's decision regarding patient privacy regulations and stand by the HIPAA risk assessment," the hospital system said. "We believe Dr. Bernard was compliant with privacy laws."
A request for an interview with Bernard was declined Friday by a spokeswoman for her attorneys.
Bernard's lawyers didn't say Friday whether they would appeal the board decision in the state court system. They issued a statement questioning the board's reprimand vote for not specifying what protected health information she wrongly revealed.
"While we wholeheartedly disagree with the letter of reprimand on privacy issues, we are proud of Dr. Bernard for standing up for access to compassionate medical care and for her consummate professionalism during these unprecedented proceedings," her lead attorney, Alice Morical, said.
Dr. Tracey Wilkinson, a pediatrician who works with Bernard at IU Health, attended the board hearing in support of Bernard and called her case "political persecution" that should worry doctors.
"I think it's incredibly unfortunate as the intimidation of Dr. Bernard sends a message that this can happen to any physician that's providing comprehensive evidence-based health care to their patients," Wilkinson said.
Anti-abortion groups called on Indiana hospitals to reconsider whether to keep doctors who provide abortions on their staff.
"Dr. Bernard readily and willingly put her patient -- who was not consulted or willing -- into the public light for her own agenda," said Marc Tuttle, the president of Right to Life of Indianapolis.