An Ohio man has been charged with raping a 10-year-old girl whose case drew national attention following a doctor’s comments that the child had to travel to Indiana for an abortion, an account that had led some prominent Republicans — including Ohio’s attorney general and a congressman — to suggest it was fabricated.
Democratic President Joe Biden highlighted the case last week at the signing of an executive order aimed at protecting access to abortion as state after Republican-led state, including Ohio, enacted near-total restrictions after the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling.
A detective testified Wednesday at an initial court appearance for the 27-year-old suspect that Columbus police learned about the girl’s pregnancy after her mother alerted Franklin County Children Services on June 22, The Columbus Dispatch reported. The detective said the girl had an abortion in Indianapolis on June 30.
US Supreme Court strikes down Roe v Wade
Millions of women and girls lost a longstanding constitutional right to abortion after a US Supreme Court decision in June.
In a speech last Friday condemning that ruling, President Biden raised a report of the child's case, angrily saying: "Imagine being that little girl!"
Hours after the Supreme Court decision, legislators in Ohio outlawed abortions after six weeks, with no exceptions for victims of rape or incest.
The child was six weeks and three days pregnant, according to the Indianapolis Star newspaper. Referred by a child abuse doctor in Ohio, the girl visited a clinic in Indianapolis, Indiana, to undergo a medical abortion on 30 June.
Although efforts are under way to restrict abortion access in Ohio's neighbouring state, the procedure still remains legal there.
Following the Supreme Court ruling, 26 US states have either severely restricted abortions or are expected to do so in the coming weeks and months.
Suspect confesses to crime
Police say the man confessed to raping the girl. He was arrested Tuesday and has not entered a plea.
Court records don’t specify whether or how the suspect knew the girl. The prosecutor’s office declined to comment on the case, and the police department did not respond to a request for additional details.
In 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit on behalf of Bernard, the doctor in the 10-year-old's case, challenging a law passed by Indiana's Republican-dominated Legislature that largely banned a second-trimester abortion procedure that the legislation called "dismemberment abortion."
(with inputs from AP)
