Indiana AG Rokita Advocates for Public Abortion Records, Faces Opposition

You may have heard Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita advocate for abortion records to be made public. His opponent emphatically disagrees.

In an opinion issued Thursday, Attorney General Rokita, a Republican who recently filed for re-election, stated that “terminated pregnancy records” should be made public to ensure that abortion providers follow Indiana laws. It would also empower patients to register complaints against physicians.

However, Democratic candidate Destiny Wells believes there is no excuse for violating patient confidentiality.

“Terminated pregnancy reports have personal health information in them,” according to WIBC. “I side with the opinion of the Public Access Counselor Luke Britt in that we have so few abortions happening now in Indiana that you can use those reports and glean information.”

Wells, a former deputy attorney general and veteran, said Indiana’s healthcare industry is already suffering as a result of Rokita’s actions, which date back to the United States Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in 2022. During that time, Dr. Caitlin Bernard of Indianapolis conducted an abortion on a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio. The girl came to Indiana because Ohio had recently implemented draconian abortion legislation.

Indiana had yet to do so, but a special session of the General Assembly later made abortion illegal save in circumstances of rape, incest, or where the mother’s life was in danger.

The entire affair became national news, reaching President Joe Biden. Dr. Bernard was ultimately reprimanded for discussing the abortion with a news reporter. Rokita has also received criticism for his actions after that.

Wells claims that Rokita’s actions have forced doctors away from Indiana and that this trend would continue if abortion records were made public. “It goes to using scare tactics of scaring doctors out of providing care,” Wells goes on to say, “which we have seen out of Rokita’s office since the beginning of this conversation.”

Destiny Wells claims that if she defeats Rokita for attorney general, she will restore professionalism to the office and cease wasting time campaigning around Indiana.

“I would not be using the office to go after our medical providers,” Wells said.