“Doctor fined for violating patient privacy by speaking about abortion ban consequences”

According to the Indiana Medical Board, the organization that licenses doctors in this state, Bernard violated the girl’s privacy, even though she only spoke about the matter in general terms and never stated the child’s identity.

Shortly before Bernard gave her story, the US Supreme Court had struck down the right to abortion, and the doctor wanted people to know what the consequences could be. Her patient was six weeks pregnant and she lived in Ohio, where abortion was banned from six weeks of pregnancy following the court’s ruling. The girl therefore traveled to neighboring Indiana for treatment.

Bernard told a reporter from the Indianapolis Star about this case, and after that the story received both national and international attention. Opponents of the abortion ban, including President Joe Biden, cited this case as an example of the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Professional secrecy

But Bernard would have violated her professional secrecy by telling the outside world about the girl, Indiana’s chief prosecutor Todd Rokita believed. By doing so, she allegedly undermined patients’ trust in doctors, and allegedly misused the patient’s story for her own interests and beliefs. The prosecution demanded that her license be revoked.

During Thursday’s hearing, which lasted a total of 14 hours, Bernard was portrayed as an activist who would no longer be fit to work as a doctor. Bernard explained that she felt obligated to show people the consequences of the abortion ban. She became emotional when she talked about underage patients who want an abortion after being raped, and how important it is for people to know how the ban on abortion will affect these victims. “People need to understand the real-world impact of the laws, whether it’s about abortion or anything else,” Bernard said.

Currently, abortion is illegal in Indiana in most cases, although exceptions are sometimes made in cases of incest and rape. This exception is also currently being challenged.

Political riot

According to Bernard, it was impossible to determine the identity of her patient on the basis of the information she had provided to the media, but the child was in danger of being known by name due to the political row that followed. Some anti-abortion advocates disbelieved the story, demanding more details about the case in order to verify it.

In the end, Bernard was fined and reprimanded. According to John Strobel, the president of the medical board, it was important to protect patients’ privacy, but he added, “I think Bernard is a good doctor.”