10-Year-Old Rape Victim Receives Abortion In Indiana After Being Denied Access In Ohio

A 10-year-old rape victim, who was six weeks pregnant, received an abortion in Indiana after being denied access in her home state of Ohio.

According to The Guardian, the young girl’s story came to public attention just three days after the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court on June 24.

The overturning of the Supreme Court case pushed Ohio’s six week “trigger ban” into effect. 

According to People, the 10-year-old’s pregnancy was terminated by Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indiana.

Bernard’s help was requested by a child abuse doctor from Ohio. And although her assistance proved to be successful in this instance, she worries that state of Indiana will soon ban abortions there as well.

“It’s hard to imagine that in just a few short weeks we will have no ability to provide that care,” Bernard told The Cincinnati Enquirer.

The Indiana General Assembly is scheduled to convene for a special session on July 25 to discuss abortion restrictions and inflation relief.

According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, Indiana-based abortion providers have been receiving an influx of out-of-state patients, with appointments soaring from five to eight patients per day to 20 per day.

Republican governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, shared her thoughts on the 10-year-old child’s situation while speaking at CNN’s “State of the Union” event.

Noem shared that she believes it’s “incredible” that “nobody’s talking about the pervert, horrible and deranged individual that raped a 10-year-old.”

“As much as we talk about what we can do for that little girl, I think we also need to be addressing those sick individuals that do this to our children,” she said. 

“What I would say is, I don’t believe a tragic situation should be perpetuated by another tragedy,” she continued. “And so there’s more that we have got to do to make sure that we really are living a life that says every life is precious, especially innocent lives that have been shattered, like that 10-year-old girl.”

According to The Guardian, abortions are now a “criminal act” in South Dakota. Rape and incest are no exception under the current South Dakota law.