The Fight Ahead

The Supreme Court's decision to end federal protections for abortion access didn't just rewind the clock 50 years, it opened a Pandora's box of confusing, potentially life-threatening legal complications. VF talks with five women on the front lines.

- By Abigail Tracy and Erin Vanderhoof

EYE OF THE STORM Caitlin Bernard, MD, who provided abortion care to a 10-year-old rape victim, in Indianapolis.

CAITLIN BERNARD, MD

Physician, Indiana

Tattooed on Caitlin Bernard's left foot is the image of a coat hanger and the words "Trust Women." The 38-year-old Indiana-based ob-gyn got it years ago; it was intended as a reminder of life before Roe v. Wade. Bernard has long paired her medical career with advocacy. She was a plaintiff in an unsuccessful 2019 American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit to reverse Indiana's near-total ban on second-trimester abortions. Post-Roe, Indiana became the first state to pass an abortion ban. Now, Bernard is girding for another legal fight-this time against Republican Indiana attorney general Todd Rokita, who she says maligned her practice as Bernard became a lightning rod in one of the most publicized cases after the Dobbs decision stripped federal abortion protections and turned the country into a patchwork of disparate laws.

Bernard is the doctor who gave a 10-year-old rape victim from Ohio an abortion and spoke to The Indianapolis Star about the devastating case. Overnight, Bernard was forced into a glaring spotlight, a martyr to one side and a villain to the other. "It was very scary, not knowing exactly what was going to happen; not knowing if this was going to impact my ability to continue working where I work; my ability to continue seeing patients," she says. "And certainly I was scared for my personal safety, for the safety of my family."