There's a limit to how much privacy people are willing to give up
Another Judge Rules Against Bush Admin. in Abortion Records Case
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 7, 2004
San Francisco, CA (LifeNews.com) -- A second judge has ruled against the Justice Department's effort to obtain patient records from those abortion advocates who have sued to overturn the ban on partial-birth abortions, signed into law last year by President Bush.
The government is hoping to obtain the records to aid in its defense of the law by showing that partial-birth abortions are never medically necessary to protect a woman's health.
U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton became the second judge to deny the request when she ruled on Friday that "women would not want to share" their personal information.
The Justice Department has said it would accept redacted records striking such personal information as names, contact information and social security numbers.
Justice Department spokeswoman Monica Goodling said the Bush administration was disappointed in the ruling. "We took every care to protect patient privacy," she said.
Hamilton's ruling is at odds with U.S. District Judge Richard Conway Casey, who has said he tentatively agrees with the Bush administration and may be inclined to let the law take effect unless the hospitals in that case produce the abortion records in a timely manner.
Both Hamilton, Casey and a federal judge in Nebraska will hold hearings on March 29 on three separate lawsuits abortion practitioners filed against the pro-life law.
The federal government had sought abortion records from a group of Planned Parenthood abortion businesses in six locations, including affiliates in Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, Washington, Kansas City and Pittsburgh.
