Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Gawddammit.
Okay, so today this happened in Texas.
State health investigators on Thursday served subpoenas for records at Planned Parenthood offices in San Antonio, Dallas and Houston, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation but who are not authorized to speak publicly about it.
The investigators were seeking hundreds of pages of information, from patient records to employee home addresses, involving 10 Planned Parenthood facilities across the state, said Sarah Wheat, an organization official in Austin.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait just a damn minute.
The state has a right to my medical records?
Now get this. This is the guys serving subpoenas in San Antonio.
They sent men to get these records?
Oh yeah, this is about as legitimate as a $30 Kate Spade purse.
On Monday, the lead investigator at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission sent letters informing all of the state’s Planned Parenthood affiliates that they were being dropped as a Medicaid health care provider.
The government men say they are investigating the misuse of Medicare funds for abortions.
I am kinda surprised the guys pictured above weren’t wearing combat gear. The war of women just got a nuke.
Thanks to everybody for the heads up.
PP is being dropped as a Medicaid health care provider in TX? Where TF are the poor supposed to go? The ER at Ben Taub?
1The police state is here
2It is inconceivable that this could be happening in our country right now.Where are the safeguards, warrants, hearings? Medical records are sacrosanct. Don’t individuals have the right to object or consent? Can’t the ACLU file an injunction? Bubba we need your opinion.
If anybody had any doubt about the Republican War on Women’s Rights, there can be none now.
3Bubba, don’t they have fourth amendment rights?
4Bubba is in trial right now, Henry. I’ll meet him at the back door with dinner and questions.
5This is so illegal for so many reasons. Where’s Loretta Lynch? She needs to haul butt to Texas and go all RFK on these fascists.
6In Cali, at least, they can only get medical records without the patients’ consent if they have a search warrant. However, I’m not sure that would even include an investigation of the clinic’s financial practices. It seems to me the financial records are where they should start, and probably end, their investigation.
Do they think women have been getting abortions and it’s being billed as Pap smears?
7Saw this on a noon ‘news’ program.
8Could only think: OMFG, with this obvious McCarthyite witch hunt, the theocratic fascist state is upon us; at their doors today, yours and mine tomorrow…
Annabelle Lee, it’s a fishing expedition of the worst magnitude. It’s painfully obvious that the judge who signed the warrant did not limit the scope of the search.
The individual medical records are sacrosanct. The financial records should only be examined with tight parameters protecting patient information. The ACLU and SPLC will do what they can, but when ‘justice’ is this far out of control, seriously, Loretta Lynch needs to roll the troops into Texas as RFK did in the 60s.
9Employee info and patient records are confidential.
10http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2015/08/state-investigations-planned-parenthood-fetal-tissue-south-carolina
Investigations have proven PP has done nothing wrong. Minn and Virginia Guvs won’t even allow the investigations into fetal tissue,etc. Only California and Washington handle fetal tissues.
As for Texas,I don’t think the fed will allow Texas to drop PP as Medicare recipient. I smell a lawsuit coming quickly.
11Abbutt is dispicable.
12http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-25/louisiana-sued-over-cuts-to-planned-parenthood-s-medicaid-funds
13Henry, Bubba says not just no but hell no. Planned Parenthood lawyers will file replies tomorrow. This was meant solely to frighten women from going to Planned Parenthood. They knew they wouldn’t get those records — they are grandstanding.
14This is a good time to put in a plug for your favorite women’s rights group, what ever it may be. They need money. This is a direct assault on PP so they will get my money today.
Sympathy is good, outrage is great, but money pays the bills.
15Every time those anti-women people fire another cannon at Planned Parenthood, I send Planned Parenthood another check. I suspect I’m not the only one.
16Those c#@ks%&kers can’t abide uppity women who think we have a right to control our own bodies.
If they really want to reduce abortions they’ll make birth control free, fund development of a male contraceptive, require states to enforce child support laws without action from the custodial parent (mother) and order mandatory castration for rapists and child molesters.
Anything less is clearly a War On Women of all ages.
17Harrassment-pure and simple and illegal as hell!
Debbo are u upset?
18Time for a federal judge to batch slap Abbott and his fellow butt heads. Could this be the basis for a class action suit against Texas?
19@Debbo you forgot, institute sex ed that includes all the facts about contraception, disease prevention and family planning.
20Why would it be that this happens on a day when the news cameras are all pointed elsewhere? What a coincidence!
21McCarthy only dreamed of this kind of right wing nirvana. These Texas tea partiers and religious nuts have created it.
22And my hands are shaking. I am too angry to write anything else about this.
I’d love to see Loretta Lynch her-own-self show up at
23Abbutt’s office and read him the law. Would he open the door?
Call in his DPS henchmen?
The Norwegians are right.
What PP contact people need to say is, “This is a HIPAA violation, I’m calling the DOJ.” Won’t stop them, but should push the case through much quicker.
24“batch slap?” What a great phrase! “Bitch slap,” but a whole lot of them in one fell swoop!
25You’re right Annabelle Lee, real sex ed.
epo, more than upset. More like Ellen C.
26@charles r. phillips – Absolutely. Federal HIPAA overcomes any state subpoena that violates patient privacy. Expect Planned Parenthood lawyers to already be seeking an emergency restraining order from the federal courts. Watch what happens tomorrow when the state gumshoes show up for those records and come face-to-face with U.S. Marshals blocking their way.
27And then he sent out a fundraising letter asking supporters to send him money to support the campaign — failing to mention that this war has nothing to do with abortion, but instead is a part of the War on Cancer.
https://timpanogos.wordpress.com/2015/10/23/texas-gov-abbott-sides-with-cancer-brags-about-it/
Abbott has taken the side of Cancer.
28Per the discussion of legal stuff above, here’s the HHS site that says how medical records covered by HIPAA (patient records at Planned Parenthood clinics are covered) can be open to criminal investigation; all affected patients must be notified, usually.
Think Texas did that?
http://www.hhs.gov/ocr/privacy/hipaa/understanding/consumers/courtorders.html
29Well! This is awful thing! BUT… this is what the majority of voters in texas want. When the majority of voters are dimwitted delusional religious aholes they elect the same type person. When ANY rule is voted on that reduces individual freedom (especially if you don’t like that freedom) then all the freedoms get whittled away until you end up with a bunch of fascists running the place!
30This is why I hate the idea of STATE rights, they don’t have rights they are fascists. When states decide what is right/wrong this is what you end up with….religiously empowered rePUKEians and the KKK, and other fascist groups.
The lesson here is it CAN HAPPEN!!! ALways think rationally, always look at FACTS not opinion, always encourage freedoms especially the ones you don’t like, disagree loudly with delusional BS or its application.
I’ve been reading Juanita for over a year and saw this and other BS happening is small bits at a time…it’s going to get worse, because at least 75% of your people are fascists who believe delusional BS and want it as the law!!
This incident is yet another ugly reminder to the politically indolent of what happens when you don’t vote. Tea-publicans and forced birthers like Abbott and Paxton can pull this stuff with political impunity.
I don’t know what it would take to make moves like this political suicide. I fear that it’s going to take hundreds of women’s deaths from breast and uterine cancer before their husbands and sons and brothers get off the couch and decide to put an end to the misrule of the Texas Republican Party.
I’m still upset about. 2014. Not just because Wendy Davis lost, but at at how wide a margin she lost.
Apathy kills.
31“employee home addresses” ?
They will probably show in the hands of anti-abortion groups. I suspect the threats will be forthcoming.
32It’s time to file a blanket “request” for state public records, under the terms of the Texas Public information Act.
As (then AG) Governor Abbott wrote in the 2014 edition of the TPIA Handbook: “Implicit in the idea of self-government is the notion that the public should know what their government is doing.”
Hypocrisy has never been an impediment for politicians, but they need to be called out on it at every opportunity.
33Wow, L. Long, take a deep breath! 75% are fascists? Do they know it?
FYI: 75% of the eligible electorate in this state doesn’t even vote. In the last gubernatorial election, Greg Abbott was elected to office by 16.9% of the eligible electorate.
What is YOUR state’s turn-out?
34Those guys are witchsmeller pursuivants, just like Ken Starr was and probably still is. There is an all out campaign of protest by calling the offices of the governors of certain states and setting the phone lines on fire.
35Here’s a nice little column and some phone numbers for those of ya’ll who might be interested and so inclined http://margaretandhelen.com/
36I’m sure they wanted to send in a SWAT team, but someone had a rare touch of sanity and realized there’d be blowback.
37“On Monday, the lead investigator at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission sent letters informing all of the state’s Planned Parenthood affiliates that they were being dropped as a Medicaid health care provider.”
Thus confirming what we knew all along: only rich [and preferably white] women are entitled to exercise their rights to abortion services. “So it’s back to coat hangers and kerosene for the rest of you!”
38Btw – –
On the 1st of each month, I now send a donation Planned Parenthood’s way. I don’t make it a monthly auto-payment due to an earlier column our dear friend [may I call her that?] JJ posted some months ago.
I do it manually so that I can credit my donation to some worthy Republican person [I’m using the term loosely here.] Marco Rubio, say. Or Mike Huckabee. My latest “donor” was Carly Fiorina. When I do that, the person I donated in the name of gets a lovely thank-you-note from PP.
Hee hee!
39This effects me. Personally. Planned Parenthood has been my medical provider for years – jokes on them though. I was diagnosed with cancer in 2009 and my file’s getting bigger by the second. I hope Greg Abbott likes to read.
40I think abbott’s gone too far this time (and you know this came from his office.). the state doesn’t have the authority to unilaterally terminate a care giver’s Medicaid eligible status. this was done recently (by TN I think) and they got trounced in court. HIPPA overrides any court order, absent criminal activity being asserted (and tangible evidence provided), so time for the attorneys to get a look at those subpoena’s.
the judge that signed off on this may find the backlash coming on him (you know it was a him.) as well.
41