An attorney for an obstetrician-gynecologist in Indiana has issued a cease-and-desist letter to the state’s Republican attorney general who threatened to bring criminal charges against her following a report that she provided care to a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio.

Dr Caitlin Bernard reportedly provided care to the girl a week after Ohio officials – hours after the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v Wade – enacted a measure that outlaws abortion care at roughly six weeks of pregnancy and makes no exception for pregnancies from rape or incest.

After casting doubt about the veracity of the case, Republican officials and right-wing media have pivoted to attacking Dr Bernard’s legitimacy and baselessly accusing her of failing to notify law enforcement about the case.

On Fox News this week, Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita dismissed Dr Bernard as an “abortion activist acting as a doctor” and alleged, without evidence, that “from what we can find out so far, this Indiana abortion doctor has covered this up.”

His letter to Republican Governor Eric Holcomb also claims that Dr Bernard could face “criminal prosecution and licensing repercussions.”

A letter from her attorney on 15 July said his remarks “cast Dr Bernard in a false light and allege misconduct in her profession”.

Despite evidence presented through public records requests and a review from Indiana University Health, her employer, that confirms Dr Bernard complied with all applicable reporting laws, Mr Rokita’s subsequent statements “further cast Dr Bernard in a false light and mislead consumers and patients,” according to the letter.

“We are especially concerned that, given the controversial political context of the statements, such inflammatory accusations have the potential to incite harassment or violence” that would prevent Dr Bernard from providing safe care to her patients, the letter states.

“Please cease and desist from making false and misleading statements about alleged misconduct by Dr Bernard in her profession, which constitute defamation per se,” it reads. “Moreover, to the extent that any statement you make exceeds the general scope of your authority as Indiana’s Attorney General, such a statement forms the basis of an actionable defamation claim.”

On 13 July, 27-year-old Gerson Fuentes was charged with raping the girl.

Police in Columbus, Ohio were alerted to a referral from Franklin County Children Services made by the girl’s mother on 22 June, according to testimony during Fuentes’ arraignment. On June 30, the girl received an abortion in Indianapolis, Indiana.

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