Planned Parenthood Clinic Ordered To Hand Over Medical Records

An Iowa court recently ruled that the Storm Lake Planned Parenthood clinic must turn over names and addresses of all women who have received positive pregnancy tests between August 2001 and May 2002.

Judge Frank Nelson first ordered the clinic to provide these records last month as part of an ongoing police investigation to identify the mother of a newborn baby found dead at a recycling center in May. Planned Parenthood officials fought the order and have already filed an appeal on the latest ruling with the state Supreme Court – a judge is expected to rule on this within the next few weeks.

In last week’s ruling, Nelson said that Planned Parenthood failed to demonstrate that the test results were private medical records protected by confidentiality laws, according to the Des Moines Register. Despite Nelson’s decision, Jill June, head of Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa, has adamantly refused to hand over the records and could face contempt of court charges – which could result in six months imprisonment or a $500 fine. “Investigating women who did nothing wrong but came in to see their health-care provider is just unthinkable,” June told People magazine.

Media Resources: Des Moines Register 7/18/02; People Magazine 7/29/02; Kaisernetwork.org 7/18/02

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