Approximately 60 women were nominated for Indiana’s Torchbearer awards, which recognizes women who are “true beacons of light,” according to The Independent. Despite this, Dr. Caitlin Bernard — the abortionist who went public to media about her 10-year-old rape survivor patient before she reported the rape — was chosen as one of six winners by the judges.
However, the Indiana Commission for Women did not approve her for the award, according to The Indianapolis Star.
No explanation was immediately given as to why Bernard was “not approved” as a winner, but the Indiana Civil Rights Commission later told the IndyStar that it was due to Bernard’s reprimanding from the state Medical Licensing Board.
“After reviewing the backgrounds and supporting documentation of the nominations provided by the council of judges, it was determined that Dr Bernard’s nomination was not appropriate due to her ongoing case with the Medical Licensing Board,” said Stephanie Sloan, deputy director of internal and external programming at the Indiana Civil Rights Commission.
The IndyStar wrote, “The council of judges who selected Bernard – former Torchbearers themselves – saw a woman who took a stand for reproductive health care and withstood threats, national vitriol and state persecution. That state, though, clearly faced the optics of giving an award to a doctor with whom officials have spend the last year in a legal battle, and who has become a face of the abortion rights movement as Indiana outlawed most abortions.”
In July of 2022, just days after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Bernard reported to the media that she had committed an abortion on a 10-year-old girl, a survivor of rape who had reportedly been blocked from undergoing an abortion in her home state of Ohio, despite the fact that it was actually for her to obtain one there.
The girl had the abortion on June 30 and at 5:00 a.m. on July 1, the very next day, The Indianapolis Star had already published the girl’s story.
In other words, Bernard had gone to the media immediately, but didn’t report the rape until July 2 – falsely claiming the rapist was 17, instead of his actual age — 27. It appeared that Bernard’s priority, therefore, was alerting the media and exploiting this girl’s tragedy in order to promote abortion on demand — not putting a rapist in jail or protecting a young girl.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita launched an investigation into Bernard, saying she may have violated patient privacy laws. She filed a suit to attempt to stop him from accessing her patient records, but a judge denied that motion.
Ultimately, the state Medical Licensing Board determined that Bernard did violate the young girl’s privacy by talking to the media.
She was fined $3,000 but was able to keep her medical license, though this was not the first time Bernard had covered up the rape of a child. Bernard was part of a group of nine abortionists who received consumer complaints for failing to report child sexual abuse 48 times — and some of the victims were as young as 12.
Despite these actions, some pro-abortion “Torchbearers” apparently felt Bernard’s exploitation of a child was worthy of an award.
