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May. 1st, 2004 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
novapsycheBush's Double Vision on Privacy
On Apr. 23, hundreds of thousands of people marched on the Capitol to protest, among other things, the Administration's decision to subpoena women's private medical records to support its case against late-term abortions.
The Justice Dept. claims this isn't an invasion of privacy because federal law "does not recognize a physician-patient privilege." It further asserts that patients "no longer possess a reasonable expectation that their histories will remain completely confidential."
[...] In a free society -- the kind the President sent U.S. troops to Iraq to establish -- the lives of private citizens should remain private, while the lives of public leaders should be an open book. In the post-September 11 world, however, that notion has been turned on its head. Average Americans are increasingly accountable to Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge, while Cheney and other top officials wish to be accountable to no one.
On Apr. 23, hundreds of thousands of people marched on the Capitol to protest, among other things, the Administration's decision to subpoena women's private medical records to support its case against late-term abortions.
The Justice Dept. claims this isn't an invasion of privacy because federal law "does not recognize a physician-patient privilege." It further asserts that patients "no longer possess a reasonable expectation that their histories will remain completely confidential."
[...] In a free society -- the kind the President sent U.S. troops to Iraq to establish -- the lives of private citizens should remain private, while the lives of public leaders should be an open book. In the post-September 11 world, however, that notion has been turned on its head. Average Americans are increasingly accountable to Homeland Security Chief Tom Ridge, while Cheney and other top officials wish to be accountable to no one.