CNN
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The Indiana doctor who provided abortion services for a 10-year-old girl who was raped is now being investigated by the state’s attorney general, according to a lawyer for the doctor.
A notice from Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita of his inquiry into Dr. Caitlin Bernard arrived Tuesday, attorney Kathleen DeLaney said.
“We are in the process of reviewing this information. It’s unclear to us what is the nature of the investigation and what authority he has to investigate Dr. Bernard,” DeLaney said.
CNN has reached out to Rokita for comment. The attorney general had previously announced he would investigate Bernard for potential failure to report the abortion and possible violation of patient privacy laws.
The inquiry notice is the latest development in a drama that has thrust Bernard to the forefront of the debate over abortion rights in the United States in the aftermath of the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade on June 24 and ended the federal right to abortion.
Bernard helped the 10-year-old after Ohio banned almost all abortions after six weeks of gestation, she told CNN earlier this month, adding that the girl was six weeks and three days into the pregnancy. Within a week of the Supreme Court ruling, the girl underwent the procedure in Indiana.
Under Indiana law, an abortion performed on a person younger than 16 years of age must be reported to the state’s Department of Health and also to the Department of Child Services within three days of the abortion.
Bernard reported the abortion procedure to the Indiana Department of Health on July 2 – two days after it was performed – as required by the department, according to agency documents obtained by CNN.
In response to CNN’s reporting,