INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has been reprimanded by the Indiana Supreme Court.
According to an opinion filed this week by the Supreme Court, Rokita violated professional conduct rules when he made statements about Dr. Caitlin Bernard on a Fox News show.
The ruling follows Rokita calling Bernard an "abortion activist acting as a doctor — with a history of failure to report" in the middle of an investigation into her statements about providing an abortion to a 10-year-old girl from Ohio.
In their opinion, the Supreme Court said the statements from Rokita "had no substantial purpose other than to embarrass or burden the physician."
Rokita is ordered to pay $250 in court fees for the cost of the proceedings.
Two judges ruled against the judgment, claiming it was too lenient.
In a statement following the release of the Supreme Court's opinion, Rokita in part said the following.
"First things first: I deny and was not found to have violated anyone’s confidentiality or any laws. I was not fined. And I will continue as Indiana’s duly-elected attorney general.
Despite the failed attempt to derail our work —which could have disenfranchised nearly 2 million voters, the largest amount in Indiana history for any state office candidate — it all boiled down to a truthful 16-word answer I gave over a year ago during an international media storm caused by an abortionist who put her interests above her patient’s. I received a ‘public reprimand’ for saying that “…we have this abortion activist acting as a doctor— with a history of failing to report...
As I said at the time, my words are factual. The IU Health physician who caused the international media spectacle at the expense of her patient’s privacy is by her own actions an outspoken abortion activist."
Read the full Supreme Court opinion below.
