An Illinois woman who suffered a cervical tear during an abortion is suing antiabortion activists for posting her picture and medical records on the Internet, the Los Angeles Times reports. Several antiabortion Web sites have posted a "grainy" photograph of the woman being taken to a nearby hospital after the procedure, along with her medical records and a two-page article detailing her hospitalization. Although her name was not released, an article on the Web sites lists several pieces of her personal information, including her age, her medical history and a description of her family and hometown. Her information was posted "next to pictures of Adolf Hitler and dismembered limbs as a cautionary tale about the alleged dangers of ending pregnancies," the Times reports. This week, the woman sued the hospital that treated her after the abortion, claiming that her medical records were released without her authorization. The woman is also suing the activists who posted her picture on the Internet, accusing them of "publicly humiliating her" and claiming "severe emotional distress" over the incident. Officials at Illinois' St. Elizabeth Medical Center, where the woman was treated, did not comment on the case, stating only that they are "careful to protect confidentiality" (Simon, Los Angeles Times, 7/6).

Taking Aim
Antiabortion activist Stephen Wetzel has claimed responsibility for obtaining and posting the woman's records on his Web site, Missionaries to the Unborn. Although he did not say how he obtained the records, Wetzel said that he was "attacking St. Elizabeth's -- not the woman or the clinic" that performed the abortion. Wetzel said that he was "upset because St. Elizabeth's is a Catholic hospital but employs the physician who also performs abortions at the clinic" (Mannies, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7/4). "This is not about exposing the girl. It's about exposing the abortionist," he said (Los Angeles Times, 7/6). Mark Levy, attorney for the plaintiff, "persuaded" Wetzel's former Web site manager to dismantle the site 10 days ago, but Wetzel recreated the site, along with the photo and records, last Monday after finding an Internet provider who is "more supportive of the antiabortion movement." Levy said that he plans to seek court action to "force Wetzel to take the records off the Internet" permanently.

Legal Issues
Wetzel said that he is confident that he and the other six antiabortion activists named as defendants in the case can "fight off [the woman's] legal challenge" because he "broke no laws" and did not post the woman's name on the Internet (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7/4). But Neville Johnson, a Los Angeles attorney who specializes in privacy law, said that "personal humiliation can be enough to win a lawsuit for invasion of privacy" (Los Angeles Times, 7/6). Legal experts stated that although there are no federal laws against posting personal medical information on the Internet, some states, including Missouri and Illinois, have statutes restricting the release of medical records without the permission of the patient or his or her family. Ted Ruger, an associate law professor at Washington University, said that the hospital is likely to face the largest "potential legal risk" because Illinois law prohibits "willful and wanton disclosure" of records by hospitals or their employees" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 7/4).

Online Strategy a 'Wave of the Future'?
The Los Angeles Times reports that posting abortion patients' medical records or photographs on the Internet "is a new tactic in the abortion wars" and is "frighten[ing] abortion-rights activists and privacy advocates alike." Joy Pritts, senior counsel for the Health Privacy Project at Georgetown University, said, "This is probably the wave of the future." Gloria Feldt, president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said, "It's [the antiabortion movement's] latest technique. Their goal is to win by intimidation." But a spokesperson for the antiabortion National Right to Life Committee said that the "activists who post such pictures are working on their own" and declined to comment on whether the NRLC "supports such a strategy." The Hope Clinic for Women -- where the woman underwent the abortion -- has not seen a downturn in patients since the incident, and clinic executive director Sally Burgess said that "her patients are not intimidated by the threat of Internet exposure" (Los Angeles Times, 7/6).