The Saturday Burial - Keep an eye out for it!

From Today's NY Times:

Administration Sets Forth a Limited View on Privacy

By ROBERT PEAR and ERIC LICHTBLAU

WASHINGTON, March 5 — In a sharp departure from its past insistence on the sanctity of medical records, the Bush administration has set forth a new, more limited view of privacy rights as it tries to force hospitals and clinics to turn over records of hundreds and perhaps thousands of abortions.

Federal law "does not recognize a physician-patient privilege," the Justice Department said last month in court papers that sought abortion records from Planned Parenthood clinics in California, Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New York City and Washington. Moreover, the department said in another abortion case, patients "no longer possess a reasonable expectation that their histories will remain completely confidential."

**EDIT**

The Justice Department says it needs the records to defend a new law that prohibits what opponents call partial-birth abortions. Doctors and clinics have challenged the law, saying it bars them from performing certain medically needed abortions.


Privacy advocates say the administration has rolled back some safeguards adopted by President Bill Clinton, and the Justice Department says now that the 1996 law is no obstacle to its efforts to obtain abortion records. In court papers, the Justice Department says the records are needed to show that the banned procedure is almost never medically necessary and "poses serious risks."

Dennis J. Herrera, the city attorney for San Francisco, said he was deeply troubled by Washington's stance.

"Any reasonable person has an expectation that their medical records are going to be kept private," Mr. Herrera said. "If physicians and patients are left wondering whether their records are going to be made public, that has a real chilling effect. How candid are people really going to be with their doctors?"

The abortion recipients are not directly involved in the litigation, and the government has not told them that it wants their records.

There's more, so check it out if you can. The problem here isn't just one of abortion, it's precedent over where privacy begins and ends for the individual.