Government
Kansas attorney general seeks abortion records from clinics
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 21, 2005
Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline is seeking the medical records of about 90 abortion patients from two state clinics -- a demand he will have to prove is constitutional in court.
The request for records is related to a criminal investigation into child rape and late-term abortions. A district court issued a subpoena for the records, but the two clinics, identified only as Alpha and Beta in court briefs, have asked the Kansas Supreme Court to quash the subpoena. Both the clinics and the attorney general have filed briefs in the case.
The case is the latest in the ongoing debate over patient privacy. Last year, then U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft sought to subpoena medical records of women who had abortions at hospitals, targeting at least six facilities around the country. In response, the AMA House of Delegates at its 2004 Annual Meeting adopted policy to communicate its concerns to the president and U.S. Dept. of Justice about the subpoenas.
In a separate 2003 case, a U.S. district judge issued a temporary injunction against a requirement Kline made for Kansas doctors to report any sexual activity by someone younger than 16 as sexual abuse. A federal appeals court is considering a challenge to the injunction. The AMA, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Medical Women's Assn. and several other organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case supporting patient confidentiality.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/03/21/gvbf0321.htm.
