Woohoo! Take that, Ashcroft!
Mar. 6th, 2004 05:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheJudge denies abortion record request
Ruling that abortion records contain information that "women would not want to share," a federal judge said that the Planned Parenthood Federation of America does not have to force affiliates to turn over patient files to the government.
The case stems from a battle over the Partial-Birth Abortion Act, which was passed by Congress last year.
The Justice Department requested the files after abortion providers persuaded federal judges in San Francisco, New York and Nebraska to temporarily block the law.
The judge's ruling on Friday did not prevent the Justice Department from seeking the records by suing each affiliate.
The act, signed by President Bush last year, bars a procedure referred to by critics as partial-birth abortion and by medical organizations as "intact dilation and extraction." During the procedure, a fetus' legs and torso are pulled from the uterus and its skull is punctured.
The law has been tentatively halted pending a trial scheduled for March 29. Abortion providers are expected to testify that such abortions can be medically necessary to prevent injury to women.
Federal attorneys want abortion doctors to make their point by referring to the medical files and asked the judge to allow them to review the medical records. The law includes language that the procedure is never necessary to preserve a woman's health.
Justice Department spokeswoman Monica Goodling said the government was disappointed in the ruling. "We took every care to protect patient privacy," she said.
Roger Evans, a Planned Parenthood attorney, told U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton the records request was a "fishing expedition."
Hamilton, who will preside over the trial in San Francisco, ruled the abortion records were irrelevant and would violate the privacy of patients even if their names were removed.
Hamilton strongly urged the government to end its pursuit of medical files from Planned Parenthood affiliates in Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., New York City, Kansas City, Mo., San Diego and Los Angeles.
Justice Department lawyer Mark Quinlivan told the judge he was unsure whether the government would continue seeking the records.
Ruling that abortion records contain information that "women would not want to share," a federal judge said that the Planned Parenthood Federation of America does not have to force affiliates to turn over patient files to the government.
The case stems from a battle over the Partial-Birth Abortion Act, which was passed by Congress last year.
The Justice Department requested the files after abortion providers persuaded federal judges in San Francisco, New York and Nebraska to temporarily block the law.
The judge's ruling on Friday did not prevent the Justice Department from seeking the records by suing each affiliate.
The act, signed by President Bush last year, bars a procedure referred to by critics as partial-birth abortion and by medical organizations as "intact dilation and extraction." During the procedure, a fetus' legs and torso are pulled from the uterus and its skull is punctured.
The law has been tentatively halted pending a trial scheduled for March 29. Abortion providers are expected to testify that such abortions can be medically necessary to prevent injury to women.
Federal attorneys want abortion doctors to make their point by referring to the medical files and asked the judge to allow them to review the medical records. The law includes language that the procedure is never necessary to preserve a woman's health.
Justice Department spokeswoman Monica Goodling said the government was disappointed in the ruling. "We took every care to protect patient privacy," she said.
Roger Evans, a Planned Parenthood attorney, told U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton the records request was a "fishing expedition."
Hamilton, who will preside over the trial in San Francisco, ruled the abortion records were irrelevant and would violate the privacy of patients even if their names were removed.
Hamilton strongly urged the government to end its pursuit of medical files from Planned Parenthood affiliates in Pittsburgh, Washington, D.C., New York City, Kansas City, Mo., San Diego and Los Angeles.
Justice Department lawyer Mark Quinlivan told the judge he was unsure whether the government would continue seeking the records.