Action | Regulations for Licensure of Abortion Facilities |
Stage | Proposed |
Comment Period | Ended on 3/29/2013 |
I oppose the TRAP regulations. Existing clinics with good safety records should be grandfathered in, as the Board of Health voted in June -- a vote that was based on medical considerations.
I am very concerned that the proposed regulations have so few confidentiality protections for patients. Department of Health employees should not have access to unredacted medical files. Department of Health employees should not have access to lists of patients, nor should they be allowed to remove patient records from clinics unless strong confidentiality protections are in place with strong legal sanctions for violating confidentiality. Patient records of any medical clinic are not public documents. By not instituting strong confidentiality protections, it seems that the Board of Health aims to assist groups that harrass women who seek abortions by allowing patient names and records to "slip" into the public domain. Surely this is not the case. Prove it.