I know I had an abortion and I'm fully capable of obtaining copies of my medical records myself should I need to access them. Thanks for your concern, but there's no need for WA taxpayers to have to subsidize this sort of unnecessary redundancy.
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A Tacky Bill mocking abortion rights
State Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, seeks to harass and intimidate women exercising their legal right to abortion.
Stevens has introduced legislation that would force the state Department of Health to release the records of women terminating pregnancies. The records would be mailed or available for pick-up by the woman and man involved. In addition to the privacy concerns this bill raises, it smacks of a political scolding.
The deeply personal choice to terminate a pregnancy is tawdry territory for Stevens to tread into. She acts as though women don't think twice about having an abortion and need a timely reminder of their choice popping up in the mail.
Stevens' attempt to out these women raises concerns about violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Abortion providers are already required by law to report procedures to state health officials. The information does not contain the identities of patients and is used for trend analysis only. Once recorded, the medical reports are destroyed.
Stevens takes this impartial data collection and tries to turn it into a bully pulpit against abortion rights. Not only would the senator require the health department to send copies of abortion records to the patient and man involved if his identity is known, but the state agency would be required to hold onto the records for four years.
This is legislation with no purpose other than a punitive one. What good would come of sending abortion records to a teenage rape victim? Or to a couple grieving from terminating a pregnancy riddled with birth defects?
Abortion laws protect the rights of those who make that choice. Stevens' bill is a tacky, back-door attempt to trample on those rights.
Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company
State Sen. Val Stevens, R-Arlington, seeks to harass and intimidate women exercising their legal right to abortion.
Stevens has introduced legislation that would force the state Department of Health to release the records of women terminating pregnancies. The records would be mailed or available for pick-up by the woman and man involved. In addition to the privacy concerns this bill raises, it smacks of a political scolding.
The deeply personal choice to terminate a pregnancy is tawdry territory for Stevens to tread into. She acts as though women don't think twice about having an abortion and need a timely reminder of their choice popping up in the mail.
Stevens' attempt to out these women raises concerns about violation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
Abortion providers are already required by law to report procedures to state health officials. The information does not contain the identities of patients and is used for trend analysis only. Once recorded, the medical reports are destroyed.
Stevens takes this impartial data collection and tries to turn it into a bully pulpit against abortion rights. Not only would the senator require the health department to send copies of abortion records to the patient and man involved if his identity is known, but the state agency would be required to hold onto the records for four years.
This is legislation with no purpose other than a punitive one. What good would come of sending abortion records to a teenage rape victim? Or to a couple grieving from terminating a pregnancy riddled with birth defects?
Abortion laws protect the rights of those who make that choice. Stevens' bill is a tacky, back-door attempt to trample on those rights.
Copyright © 2005 The Seattle Times Company