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Ohio high court denies abortion records request

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By LISA CORNWELL, The Associated Press Updated 6:07 PM Wednesday, July 1, 2009

CINCINNATI — The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the parents of a Cincinnati teenager who got an abortion at a Planned Parenthood clinic cannot get child abuse reports or medical records of other minors treated there.

The girl's parents asked for the records in a civil lawsuit against Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio and the doctor who performed the abortion in March 2004, when their daughter was 14.

The suit claims the clinic broke the law by failing to getparental consent for their daughter's abortion, not reporting suspected child abuse to the authorities and not informing the girl of risks and alternatives.

The suit also claims the clinic's handling of the case was part of a "pattern or practice" of failing to meet its legal obligation to report abuse of minors who got abortions there.

The parents asked a judge to order Planned Parenthood to turn over all medical records and child abuse reports of minors who had gone there for abortions in the preceding 10 years. The clinic provided their daughter's records but refused to provide records of any other patients, citing physician-patient privilege.

"We believe that the court, by providing this protection to Planned Parenthood, has significantly weakened the protection Ohio has provided to sexually abused children and undermined parents' rights to protect their minor children," attorney Brian Hurley said of the ruling Wednesday.

Becki Brenner, Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio's chief executive, said the ruling reaffirms the importance of keeping medical records confidential.

"Our perspective is that third-party records of people who are not involved in the lawsuit should not be shared with the plaintiff and their attorney," she said.

Planned Parenthood has said that the girl told its staff her parents approved of the abortion but couldn't come to the clinic. The clinic said the girl provided a phone number that she said was her father's, and a man who answered identified himself as her father and gave consent.

Court records say the number belonged to her 21-year-old boyfriend. The boyfriend, John Haller, was her youth soccer coach. He was later convicted of seven counts of sexual battery.

An appeals court ruled in 2007 that other patients' records weren't necessary for the lawsuit.

The state supreme court justices said in their majority opinion that the family had no right to obtain others' medical records in this case.

The court concluded that the parents may still pursue their claims for damages against Planned Parenthood dealing with issues of whether it performed an unlawful abortion on the girl, if her consent was proper, and whether the clinic had a duty to report suspected abuse.

In a separate abortion-related ruling Wednesday, the high court ruled that use of the abortion pill RU-486 under a state law passed in 2004 must take place within 49 days of gestation, as provided by federal law. The ruling did not address the larger question raised by Planned Parenthood in the lawsuit of whether the 2004 law is constitutional.

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On The Net:

Ohio Supreme Court: www.supremecourt.ohio.gov

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July 01, 2009 10:02 PM EDT

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