(Headline USA) Todd Rokita, Indiana‘s attorney general, has sued the state’s largest hospital system, claiming it violated patient privacy laws when a doctor publicly shared the story of an Ohio girl who traveled to Indiana for an abortion.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Indianapolis federal court, marked Rokita’s latest attempt to defend the state of Indiana against the activist medical doctor who targeted his state.
The doctor’s account of a 10-year-old rape victim traveling to Indiana to receive abortion drugs became a flashpoint in the abortion debate days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer.
Rokita, a Republican, is stridently pro-life and Indiana was the first state to approve infanticide restrictions after the court’s decision. The near-total abortion ban recently took effect after legal battles.
“Neither the 10-year-old nor her mother gave the doctor authorization to speak to the media about their case,” the lawsuit stated. “Rather than protecting the patient, the hospital chose to protect the doctor, and itself.”
The lawsuit named Indiana University Health and IU Healthcare Associates. It alleged the hospital system violated HIPPA, the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and a state law for not protecting the patient’s information.
Indiana’s medical licensing board reprimanded the doctor in May, saying she didn’t abide by privacy laws by talking publicly about the girl’s treatment.
In July, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant was sentenced to life in prison for the child’s rape.
Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press
