Read the case study (link via the assignment title above) provided and answer the following questions:
Should Planned Parenthood be forced to turn over to the police the records of women who tested positive for pregnancy? Why or why not? What are the competing considerations in this case? To what extent do women seeking a pregnancy test have a right to privacy in such a situation? To what extent do criminal investigators have a right to access otherwise-confidential information? Why/when does one outweigh the other?
Suggested completion date: September 19, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
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22 comments:
I don’t feel Planned Parenthood should be forced to turn over the records for several reasons. Planned Parenthood is the least likely place to look for someone who would have done this. Whoever did this didn’t seek help from anyone or this tragedy would not have occurred. Pregnancy tests are available off the shelf at any drug store. Given that the police are unlikely to find anything, the police should not be allowed access to private medical records for a fishing expedition. How many people or families could be thrown in to turmoil by the revealing of confidential information that was meant to be kept private? Giving up the records at Planned Parenthood could create the circumstances for the same type of incident to happen again. When word gets out that they gave up their records, how many people would believe their assurances of confidentiality? Planned Parenthood doesn’t just do abortions. They also provide counseling and adoption services if necessary. Someone who might go to Planned Parenthood for help would not and set up the sad situation all over again. In closing I feel that preventing the tragedy from happening again outweighs the slight possibility of finding the culprit.
Greg Dawson
Planned Parenthood should absolutely NOT be forced to turn over private records. It is a major violation of Patient Privacy. This could cause distress to the women who had pregnancies and were examined at Planned Parenthood. There could be women who may not have wanted family members to know that at one time she may have been pregnant and this could be awkward. What if the woman, upon investigation who was previously pregnant miscarried? What kind of emotional distress would that cause her? Secondly, what do you think would happen to the reputation of the Planned Parenthood facility? It would undermine their integrity. Every patient, man or woman has a right to keep their health information private. I believe that criminal investigators should not be allowed to act on assumptions, and in this case, believing that the mother was a Planned Parenthood pregnancy case. They should have to have more factual information before they could call out and ask the medical providers to hand over confidential information.
Amanda Breed
Planned parenthood should not turn over the records based on patient confidentiality agreements. Women seek out planned parenthood clinics specifically for their own privacy. Giving those records to the government is risking the trust patients have with their doctors. Going through those records is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. It's practically pointless, considering the mother might have not even took a test at planned parenthood in the first place. Investigators have no right to pry into women's personal lives without their consent first. A dead baby is very sad but going on this wild goose chase could be potentially damaging to many women or mothers. As the first post said, women who have miscarried have been through enough emotional trauma. They don't want or need to have those feelings brought back up by strangers. There has to be other ways of obtaining crucial information.
Planned Parenthood should not be forced to turn over medical records. I know there are special circumstances where the police are allowed to access medical records but only when there is enough evidence pointing toward a specific person. Everyone's medical records are very personal and private and no one should be able to access them randomly. Someone’s life can be ruined if their medical records end up in the wrong hands and are divulged with the wrong people. Let’s face it secrets get out at everyone’s job. How likely is it that all of these women’s medical information won’t get out and be made public. I know the death of a baby is hard for anyone to hear about let alone actually witness. I know that the law enforcement is trying to out weigh the good versus the bad. But in the end other options can be found that will have positive outcomes on the case.
Amanda Rhoades
Michelle Camping
My position on the topic of the privacy of the abortion record being used to find out the mother of the baby found is against. This may have been what they thought the best way to narrow down the search, but I don’t believe it is fair and violates the women’s rights. Although I don’t support abortion, they are medical records, and this topic can be very hard for some to revisit.
When dealing with the murder of a baby; it is very hard to understand why anyone could hurt someone so precious as a baby, so I can see why they would take this step. I think if they had some kind of proof that this was one of the patients of the abortion clinics I believe they would have had every right to view these records.
I really believe in having more proof before invading peoples rights, and privacy. As a person going into the medical field I would like to see justice but as a everyday person I hope they go a little bit further with searching other routes before taking this action.
Erin Bell
I do not think that Planned Parenthood should be forced by police to turn over the pregnancy test records. First of all, I’m pretty sure that it is a violation of a person’s private medical records, covered by HIPAA. People have the right to keep their medical information private, and none of these women are really even suspects of any crime so they deserve to have their rights upheld.
Secondly, the police have no reason to believe that the deceased baby belonged to a woman who visited Planned Parenthood. There are a few reasons why the mother of the deceased baby most likely was not a patient at Planned Parenthood. One is that if a woman is so desperate that she is going to throw her baby away, she probably did not seek medical help or advice during her pregnancy. Also, she probably didn’t want anyone to know about her pregnancy so she would keep it as secret as possible.
And finally, it could be very traumatic for the woman who had a pregnancy test at Planned Parenthood to be visited by the police and asked about her baby. If the woman tested positive for a pregnancy test and didn’t have a baby, that could only mean a couple of things. Either she had an abortion, which is a very personal, private choice, or her baby died. For a police officer to come and grill any of these women about this could be quite distressing and traumatizing.
I think this is a very difficult decision for Planned Parenthood because this is not some random people asking for information. The police department is paid to investigate crime and punish criminals. Anyone who throws a baby into the trash is a criminal and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. So in this case I think the police should get access to the information. However, I think they should be discrete during their investigation to avoid a public humiliation of the mothers who may have lost their baby to a miscarriage. They could possibly try contacting the doctors of the mothers and see if there is any information in their medical records. No matter how the police approach this discretion is a top priority but I think the mother of this baby should face some consequences. The police are trying to investigate a murder so I think they should be given the information to catch a criminal.
Joe king
EDDIE. PRATT
Bioethics-Scenario- one –Abortion record case:
This person has lost her rights when she committed murder.
Respect for human life finds an ultimate expression in the bond of
love the mother has for her child. The act recognizes this reality as well.
Whether to an abortion requires a difficult and painful moral decision.
Parent-Plan-Hood is Federal Regulated. This case will bring the Supreme
Court in order to subpoena their record. State government have other
means, and it does not violated know one’s privacy. Moral Obligation
is based only on one’s conscience and that is not legally enforceable.
Some things to consider about the case - Would it make a difference if the police were targeting other populations as well? Not just Planned Parenthood patients but private OB offices and other clinics, hospitals, etc.... Does a criminal investigation justify violating the privacy of hundreds, even thousands, of women who know nothing of the crime? Why or why not? If it is ok to do this, exactly how much evidence is needed BEFORE obtaining private medical records that contain much more information than just pregnancy test results? What other methods could be used for obtaining this information? Would it make any difference if the police could guarantee that absolutely no private information related to the innocent women would ever get out? Why or why not? Keep in mind there are several explanations for a positive pregnancy test with no live baby besides dumping infant in trash: false positive test, abortion, miscarriage, still birth, and adoption for example..... Weigh carefully the rights of the women who have committed no crime against the "rights" of society, the police, the state, etc. Which takes precedence, when, and why?
Planned Parent hood should not hand over the medical records to thier patients. There are only certian cases where the Police can access these records. It would be a invasion of privacy for the government no matter who it is to look at the records that were meant to be kept private. I work in a hospital and keeping the patients information is very important so i understand why planned parenthood would not just hand the records over to the police.
Jennifer Faulkner
I don't feel like Planned Parenthood should be forced to turn over the records. First off why would someone go to Planned Parenthood if they were just planning to throw away their baby. I think that pregnancy is a private thing. I mean who knows what the circumstances are of some of these pregnancies. At all times I believe that matters that deal with medical or health are private. Honestly that is a law. I think that the investigators are important too, but this situation is private and I honestly think that Planned Parenthood would be the last place to look. In reality I don't think that this is legal at all in the first place.
Maura Boles
Jennifer-
I completely agree with you, it would invade every woman's privacy that went to that particular planned parenthood.
Amanda Rhoades
Although this was a very heinous and sad crime, I absolutely do not think that Planned Parenthood should turn over any records, nor should a court be able to subpoena these records. There is not enough evidence for a judge to determine that this mother took her pregnancy here. There are countless other ways to determine that you are pregnant without going to a Planned Parenthood, for example the grocery store sells pregnancy tests over the counter, one could go to her primary care physician, or even to a women’s shelter. If Planned Parenthood were to release these records I believe that it would constitute doctor-patient privileges and would not admissible in court anyway. The investigators on the case should be able to collect DNA evidence from the body, such as hair, or blood DNA. Not to mention that the police would be intruding on the privacy of countless innocent people who may have had a horrible experience forcing them to relive an experience I am sure they would not want to.
Kayla Parent
In regards to Michelle Camping--
I do not believe that the scenario has to do with abortion as much as the murder of this innocent baby. Planned Parenthood is a clinic that is there to serve men and women with a variety of services, including STD testing, condoms, birth control and anything that could or would help make pregnancies as safe and as planned as possible. You mentioned that you thought there really needed to be more proof before invading someone’s privacy, what kind of proof would have liked to see? Just some thoughts :)
Thanks,
Kayla
In regard to Michelle C:
I dont think that the issue is abortion it is the violation of confidentality of patient's private records. While I agree that it is a sad state when someone throws a child away like garbage when there are safe haven laws in place for children I believe that trying to seek records from one facility based purely on suspicion that the mother was seen at planned parenthood is crazy and there should be more forethought about the actions that they wanted to take. MLongtin
I’m abandoning evaluation for this case. How heinous crimes this is... indescribable, unspeakable, unthinkable. The context of what happened is just too much for me to stay centered. Consequently I’m unable to analyze all possible views with fair-minded.
We’ll get better result focusing on serious prevention rather than looking for a needle in haystack in a storm of privacy issues. It does nothing but causing animosity among people.
JWK
Michelle Camping
11-15-2008
I agree with Greg, there isn't a big enough chance that the records will give enough to thier case.
I think Planned Parenthood should have to turn over records in a matter like this. I think it is wrong because these women do go to the program under the assumption that they are doing it under confidential terms. I think if the police did have to go question women about their pregnancies after the fact it may be hard for some but the fact that an innocent child resulted in death, I believe these are different terms. Maybe when they sign up with Planned Parenthood they should have to sign something saying if there was a matter as such then their records might have to be turned over, or they have to keep certain records up to the actual birth to out rule any women if there was a situation. I think the fact that these women do go there for complete confidentiality maybe they would not be going if that wasn't the case but these places are there to help especially if they are in a situation where they don't want the baby. I think women deserve complete privacy when it comes to any type of a matter with this, taking a pregnancy test, giving or not giving birth, etc. but if it is going to result in the death of a baby I think there should have to be some type of stipulations in order to keeping their records private. It is hard but I think that giving up the records for something like this outweights privacy. If the women had decided to not keep the baby then maybe she could have done something before or looked into adoption, now this baby is dead and without any say, and anyone else's input or say otherwise also.
In response to J.King
I think how he put that was good. I know most everyone disagrees and thinks that the patient confidentiality overweights the other but I do agree with him. I think since there was a death involved there should be different views and thoughts on the whole case. I do also agree that whatever is done should be done with the utmost discretion.
I do not think that Planned Parenthood should be forced to turn over patient's records to law enforcement officials. Although this was a very disturbing discovery, Planned Parenthood is protected by HIPAA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 or HIPAA protects the use and disclosure of individuals' health information by organizations. It would be an unethical process to put the the patient's files who visited the facility at risk when there is no way for law enforcement to prove whether or not the baby even came from a woman who visited Planned Parenthood. As awful of a crime as this might be, it does not justify the release of patient's records who often visit facilities like Planned Parenthood for the confidentiality. Just as a woman has the right to a pregnancy test in the comfort and confidence of her own home, they also have the same right in a medical facility be it a doctor's office or clinic like Planned Parenthood. If there was some proof that the mother of this child had in fact visited a Planned Parenthood, then the situation might warrant a request like this but there would still need to be additional security features put into place to ensure the protection of health information. - Alana Zinkie
I understand women have rights and their privacy should be respected. That is why I think the police should be very careful in their investigation. But like any other police investigation, if a judge believes that this information could help solve a crime then the information should be released to the police.
Joe king
In regards to Kayla -
I agree with the fact that there really is not enough evidence to determine that the woman went to Plannned Parenthood when she thought she was pregnant. It's a good point- there are so many other ways a woman could find out about her pregnancy without anyone knowing.
Erin
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