United States:Â An Indiana doctor says she has faced harassment after the story of one of her patients, a 10-year-old Ohio girl who became pregnant as a result of rape, captured the country’s attention as a flashpoint in the debate over abortion rights.Â
Dr Caitlin Bernard has been well-known in the weeks following Roe v. Wade was overruled as a result of her appearance on right-wing television and prominent figures, such as Todd Rokita, Indiana’s attorney general, criticising her work.
She has been worried about her own safety as well as the safety of her family, Bernard stated on Tuesday in an interview with NPR’s Sarah McCammon.Â
And she asserted the actions of Rokita, an anti-abortion Republican who has called for an investigation into Bernard, as well as suggested without giving evidence that she neglected to follow Indiana state requirements for abortion providers, amounted to “harassment“.
Moreover, Bernard mentioned in the statement, “It’s honestly been very hard for me, for my family. It’s hard to understand why a political figure, a prominent figure in the state, would want to come after physicians who are helping patients every single day in their state.”
When asked if she believed the criticisms she has received from prominent conservatives would discourage other abortionists around the nation, Bernard responded that the reverse would be true.
Furthermore, she said, “What I’ve heard from my colleagues in Indiana and around the country is that we have been silent for too long, that we have not spoken out enough. So, no. I don’t see that it will stop physicians. I think it will motivate them.”
