The New York Times recently reported about an outrageous violation of the privacy rights of women in Buena Vista County, Iowa, who received pregnancy tests at clinics and hospitals.
In May, Buena Vista police discovered a horrific crime. They found the dismembered body of a dead baby in the county recycling center. With almost nothing to go on, the county sheriff came up with a brilliant plan — ask clinics and local hospitals to turn over the names of women who had received pregnancy tests.
Unbelievably, almost all of the clinics and hospitals complied. The local Planned Parenthood did not, and is currently in a legal battle with the county over whether or not it can be forced to turn over records of pregnancy tests.
Since police have no evidence at all that the mother of the dead baby is a local woman, much less that she might have been a patient at any particular clinic, the police request is simply a fishing expedition that clearly violates patients’ right to privacy. This sort of blanket request is just as wrong as are proposals to build genetic databases of everybody who comes in contact with police in order to try to better track perpetrators of rape, murder and other crimes.
And some of the clinics who cooperated with the police request might have to pay. At least one woman whose name was turned over to police by the clinic where she received a pregnancy test is considering suing the clinic for damages.
Receiving a pregnancy test is not a suspicious criminal activity and women who request pregnancy tests should not fear that doing so may result in their names being released to police.
Source:
Privacy furor over subpoena in baby’s death. Adam Clymer, The New York Times, August 21, 2002.