COLUMBUS — Officials on both sides of the political aisle and on the issue of abortion on Monday said the state should ensure that Ohio's mandatory reporting law was followed when a 10-year-old Ohio girl was reportedly raped and then sought an abortion in neighboring Indiana because her pregnancy was more than six weeks along.
But who should lead the way is a different question.
Michael Gonidakis, president of Ohio Right to Life and a member of the State Medical Board, said he plans to informally discuss the matter with his fellow board members, most likely on Wednesday prior to their regular meeting.
“I'm going to ask the medical board to do its due diligence and work with the 88 county children's service [agencies] and relevant law enforcement to ensure, if this indeed happened, that mandatory reporting was followed,” he said. “If not, we need to hold the Ohio doctor responsible. There could be a monster on the street right now, and I have young children.”
Rep. Bill Seitz (R., Cincinnati) is sponsor of a bill doubling to four years the time allowed to bring action against the long list of professionals mandated under Ohio law to report known or reasonably suspected child abuse when they fail to fulfill their duty.
“At the least we can put out an all-points bulletin to the 88 prosecutors to see if they are aware of any reports of a rape of a 10-year-old in the last couple months that they need to be prosecuting,” he said. “We don't know what county she emanated from, if indeed she did.”
Sen. Teresa Fedor (D., Toledo), a staunch abortion-rights supporter, agreed that a higher-level examination is needed.
“At every level law enforcement needs to be engaged,” she said. “This is how we test how well the mandatory reporting system works. Who is being held accountable and who is overseeing it to see that no one is falling through the cracks?
“This is an unintended consequence of what the U.S. Supreme Court justices just did in reversing personal privacy rights,” Ms. Fedor said.
A recent Indianapolis Star story recently went viral with its quote from a local obstetrician-gynecologist and abortion provider, Dr. Caitlan Bernard, that an Ohio “child abuse doctor” had a 10-year-old with a pregnancy that was three days beyond the six-weeks limit under Ohio law. Ohio's so-called Heartbeat Bill went into effect just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision that recognized a right to abortion. The decision sent regulation of abortion back to states.
The story was repeated by President Biden as he signed an executive order to protect the ability to cross state lines in search of an abortion as states like Ohio have narrowed or all but ended the procedure within their borders. The White House did not independently verify the story and, in a weekend story, the Washington Post's Fact Checker was unable to do so.
So far there have been no public revelations of charges being filed in a case meeting this description.
In 2020, the most recent year for which data is available, 52 of 20,605 abortions performed in Ohio involved girls under the age of 15, according to the state Department of Health.
The State Medical Board, which has jurisdiction over medical licenses, largely responds when complaints of alleged violations are made, although the board can take up an investigation on its own if it becomes aware of a problem.
“If this case is as horrific as it sounds, it needs to be investigated,” Mr. Gonidakis said. “If this did happen, the monster who raped this girl should be behind bars. Ohio law requires health-care professionals to report to children's services or law enforcement if they know or have reason to believe a child has been abused.”
Rep. Jeff Crossman (D., Parma), the Democratic candidate for Ohio attorney general, said the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe has raised a myriad of legal questions. But he questioned whether the state should specifically investigate this case.
“The concern I have in calling for an investigation is the risk of revictimizing the victim, if there is one,” he said. “There is a lot of murky questions relative to mandatory reporting relative to what is the best thing for the child victim.
“I've met with a lot of local prosecutors, and there are very similar situations where minors are raped and impregnated by an adult,” he said.
Republican Attorney General Dave Yost's office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
State Sen. Stephen Huffman (R., Tipp City), a physician and chairman of the Senate Health Committee, also called for an investigation, saying the attorney general could have the infrastructure in place to query county children's service agencies and law enforcement.
“Whatever physician was taking care of her should have reported to authorities, and it's my understanding that the Indiana doctor was required to report,” he said. “Even if she was in another state, she still had a patient alleging rape and had a duty to report.”
Dan Tierney, spokesman for Gov. Mike DeWine, who signed the Heartbeat Bill into law, noted that children's service agencies and law enforcement generally do not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation involving a minor victim prior to an arrest or indictment.
“He believes that a mandatory report should have been done,” Mr. Tierney said. “Once received, these local entities should investigate locally. If evidence supports it, the governor believes the rapist should spend the rest of his life in prison. Rape of a 10-year-old child is a horrific, horrific crime.”
State lawmakers are currently on recess, potentially until after the Nov. 8 election. Several stricter anti-abortion rights bills have been introduced and could see action before year's end. They would ban nearly all abortions, either through criminal prosecution or civil litigation against doctors, as well as grant the rights of legal “personhood” to the unborn from conception.
First Published July 11, 2022, 9:46 p.m.
