Re: Clinics Ask State Supreme Court To Block Kansas AG's Investigation Involving Medical Records of Women Who Had Abortions
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Tue Mar 1 07:10:52 2005
Joanne
many of those are done in George Tiller's Center - perhaps this is a
flanking maneuver aimed at putting him out of business.
art
At Mon, 28 Feb 2005, Joanne Bulley, MD wrote:
>
>I have to agree with this editorial writer ... this does not have
>anything to do with looking for perpetrators of rape etc ... although
>that excuse "looks good" in print. It is trying to get confidential
>recods that are protected by law ... I would guess that the hope is
>that all the publicity surrounding this will make people shy away from
>the decision / stay away from those clinics.
>
>Personally, I have never seen a "late term abortion" for anything other
>than congenital / genetic defects incompatible with life ... and those
>were induction of labor to evacuate the uterus - never the horrendous
>things that the anti abortion folks put in print ... have any of you?
>
>Joanne
>
>At Mon, 28 Feb 2005, art fougner, md wrote:
>>
>>In today's Ny Times - this issue is getting national attention -
>>reprinted since registration required.
>>
>>What's Secretly Wrong With Kansas
>>
>>In a shocking abuse of office, the attorney general of Kansas is
>>conducting a stealth campaign to violate the privacy of about 90 women
>>who obtained late-term abortions, offering the flimsy claim that he's
>>looking for evidence of crime.
>>
>***
>>
>>Mr. Kline's campaign echoes a similar salvo last year by Attorney
>>General John Ashcroft. Federal judges eventually cited privacy laws to
>>stop his attempt to forage through hundreds of records at a half-dozen
>>hospitals. Two years ago, Mr. Kline called on health-care providers to
>>report underage sexual activity, but a federal judge ruled him out of
>>line. Mr. Kline deserves another rebuff, beginning with the suspension
>>of the gag order.
>>
>***
>>It's not at all clear how that crime is linked in particular to
>>late-term abortions, which just happen to be the current target of
>>Republican anti-abortion activists across the country. Late-term
>>abortions - beyond 22 weeks of gestation - are illegal in Kansas, except
>>when they are done to protect a woman's health. But Mr. Kline offers
>>no evidence to suggest he has any legal ground to justify pawing through
>>the confidential records of the 90 women he has targeted for his mission
>>of harassment. As for predatory abuse of girls under the age of sexual
>>consent, they could have obtained abortions earlier than 22 weeks.
>>
>>There is no disputing that Mr. Kline has the duty and power to uphold
>>the law. No one wishes child abusers to walk free. But Mr. Kline also
>>has privacy laws to uphold. His demand for the clinics' records is not
>>only insupportable legally; it smacks of an ideological dragnet.
>>
>>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/28/opinion/28mon2.html?pagewanted=print&positio
>>art
>>
>>--
>>art fougner, md
>>
>> "If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else."
>>Lawrence Peter Berra
>>
>--
>Joanne Bulley, MD
>Keene, NH, USA
>
--
art fougner, md
"If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else."
Lawrence Peter Berra
