The Missouri Attorney General’s Office is demanding health records of Planned Parenthood abortion patients in an effort to argue in favor of keeping in place several regulations that limit access to the procedure.
The office is asking for patient medical records, incident reports, “adverse event documentation” and communications about patient care, according to court records. Also requested through a subpoena were operational and clinical protocols, equipment patient records, contractual arrangements and documentation of compliance.
“Despite the Missouri attorney general’s blatant attempts to overturn the will of the people, all patients expect and have the right for their medical records to be private,” leadership with Planned Parenthood Great Plains, Planned Parenthood Great Rivers and the ACLU of Missouri said in a joint statement. “Politicians have no place in the exam room with patients and their medical providers, and that’s why we will keep fighting for patients and their rights.”
The attorney general’s office, newly under the leadership of Catherine Hanaway, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office also subpoenaed two former Planned Parenthood Great Rivers board members, one physician contracted by Planned Parenthood Great Rivers and the chief medical officer of Planned Parenthood Great Plains, who was handed a subpoena during recess of a court hearing related to abortion access on Sept. 10.
“This is nothing more than an attempt to harass (Planned Parenthood) and should not be permitted by the court,” attorneys for the clinics wrote in a court filing asking Jackson County Circuit Judge Jerri Zhang to throw out the subpoenas.
Last November, Missourians voted to codify the right to reproductive health care, including abortion up to the point of fetal viability, in the state constitution. A day later, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Missouri sued the state in an effort to take down several abortion regulations that remain part of state statute, arguing that those regulations are now unconstitutional because they burden abortion patients and providers.
That lawsuit is set to go to trial in January. Until then, Zhang temporarily enjoined — or struck down — some of the regulations, allowing Planned Parenthood to begin offering procedural abortions again.
Planned Parenthood is also awaiting a decision from Zhang after asking her to enjoin even more state regulations that the clinic argues are preventing clinics from prescribing mifepristone and misoprostol, which are used in medication abortions. As of Monday, Missourians could not access medication abortion from an in-state provider because of these regulations.
Planned Parenthood is currently offering procedural abortions at its clinics in Kansas City, Columbia and St. Louis.
A separate battle for patient records
Last month, the Missouri Court of Appeals gave the green light for the attorney general’s office to subpoena patient health information in a separate case involving the Washington University Transgender Center. But it has to be done under more stringent parameters, the court ruled.
The attorney general’s office initially requested “all electronic health records of (the center’s) clients” and a list of all the center’s patients. The higher court is now requiring that only the minimum required health information be turned over.
The appeals court reversed a ruling last year in which a district judge said the center did not have to turn over patient information protected by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act, also known as HIPAA.
In that case, the attorney general’s office argued that it qualifies as a “health oversight agency,” and as such should be privy to patient information protected by HIPPA.
This story was originally published by the Missouri Independent.
