A 10-year-old Ohio girl who traveled to Indiana for an abortion has highlighted the impact of the US Supreme Court ruling on women's reproductive rights.
As reported by People, Dr. Caitlin Bernard, an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indianapolis, revealed to The Cincinnati Enquirer that she terminated a pregnancy for a 10-year-old rape victim following the Supreme Court's vote to overturn 1973's Roe v. Wade decision.
Bernard was directed to the patient by a child abuse doctor in Ohio after the state banned abortion following six weeks of pregnancy. The young girl was six weeks and three days pregnant, per People.
Although Indiana’s lawmakers have not yet outlawed or restricted abortion, they are likely to do so when a special session of the state assembly takes place later this month.
Dr. Bernard is concerned that doctors would be unable to provide the service, saying: "It's hard to imagine that in just a few short weeks we will have no ability to provide that care."
Indiana abortion providers have seen an inflow of out-of-state patients since the supreme court's ruling. Dr. Katie McHugh, another Indiana OB-GYN, told the outlet that she has received "an insane amount of requests" from Ohio and Kentucky.
In other states, a Kentucky judge has temporarily halted the state from passing a "trigger ban" on abortion, and Ohio clinics have taken out a case to find the state's six-week ban unconstitutional.
The case of the 10-year-old girl has put anti-abortion political figures in the position of balancing the rights of women and girls - including abuse victims - while supporting abortion restrictions.
Kristi Noem, 50, a Republican governor, said on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday (July 3) that she found it to be "incredible" that "nobody’s talking about the pervert, horrible and deranged individual that raped a 10-year-old".
CNN’S State of the Union host, Dana Bash, questioned Noem on whether it was right for a 10-year-old rape victim who was pregnant to have to travel for a legal abortion.
Seemingly deflecting, Noem responded that the rape of children is "an issue that the supreme court has weighed … as well", continuing that people should also be "addressing those sick individuals [who] do this to our children".
She was then asked if she would seek to have the rule reversed if a similar case occurred in her state of South Dakota, and she replied: "I don’t believe a tragic situation should be perpetuated by another tragedy."
"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," Noem added.
Last month's 5-to-4 ruling reversed nearly 50 years of precedent, giving states the authority to pass their own laws around abortion.
President Joe Biden, 79, has spoken out against the SCOTUS ruling, saying: "The court is literally taking America back 150 years."