Health Board Recommends Stricter Rules for Abortion Clinics

By Amanda Iacone, Virginia Statehouse News Friday, September 16, 2011

RICHMOND - Virginia’s effort to regulate abortion clinics may be treading on privacy issues for patients and clinic staff, if debate at a state board of health meeting Thursday is any indication.

Whether to make the identity of patients and clinic staff public as well as the patient’s medical records took center stage as the state Board of Health debated new guidelines, which included setting architectural standards for the clinics to bring them in line with hospitals.

Abortion clinic providers called the proposed regulations egregious because they neither provide a mechanism to protect the identity of women seeking health services nor do they prohibit health department staff from taking the records off the premises.

However, state health department officials said the proposed privacy provisions mirrored current practice used when inspecting other types of medical facilities.

The board voted 12-1 Thursday for the draft regulations, sending them to the attorney general and governor for a final review.

Lisa Brown, an attorney with the National Abortion Federation, a professional association for abortion providers, said protecting a patient’s confidentially is particularly important for women’s health centers.

“Patients are targeted for harassment outside of women’s health centers across Virginia by protesters and there is history of anti-abortion groups seeking patient information in order to deter women from obtaining patient care,” Brown said.

Federal law prohibits sharing individual medical records without the patient’s permission. State law gives health department staff access to that information, but the information is not subject to Virginia’s freedom of information act, nor can it be shared beyond the department of health without the patient’s permission, state officials said.

The board inserted some language into the regulations ensuring the patient’s privacy and reaffirming that individual records will not be made public.

Board Member James Edmondson, a housing contractor by trade, represents consumers on the board. He proposed numerous amendments to protect the identity of staff, doctors and patients, such as requiring inspectors to get the permission of patients to speak with them. Few were adopted.

“This is not a nursing home. This is not an outpatient surgery clinic. This is abortion. There is a level of concern. We have facilities but more importantly we have patients and providers and they are at risk in a way that people who work at nursing homes aren’t at risk. Keep that in mind,” said Edmondson.

The board adopted a privacy amendment proposed by Dr. Catherine Slusher, a board member and a gynecologist, to allow health department inspectors to remove copies of medical records but only with redacted names and addresses. Numbers would be used to later identify patients if further investigations are warranted.

The board also included language that health inspectors must identify themselves and the clinics may verify their identity before allowing them inside the clinic, to prevent abortion opponents from pretending to be inspectors.

Shelley Abrams, executive director of  Capitol Women’s Health clinic, which provides abortions in Richmond, said the state’s regulations do not have a grandfather clause that would allow existing clinics to continue operating without having to meet the new restrictions.

Half of the 15-member board is made up of men. One gynecologist serves on the board.

Nine of the board members were appointed by Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell and six by former Gov. Tim Kane, a Democrat.

The General Assembly passed a law this year requiring the Department of Health to draft regulations to treat abortion clinics as hospitals. The regulations apply to clinics that perform at least five first trimester abortions a month.