Missouri ’s State Health Department Kept Spreadsheet Tracking Menstrual Periods of Planned Parenthood Patients

Missouri’s top health official testified Tuesday that the state health department kept a spreadsheet tracking the menstrual periods of women who visited Planned Parenthood in St. Louis — a revelation that has drawn scrutiny and raised questions about whether it was a violation of patient privacy. The spreadsheet — which Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Director Dr. Randall Williams said was created to identify patients who had undergone failed abortions — included patients’ medical identification numbers, dates of medical procedures, gestational ages of fetuses, and the date of the patients’ last menstrual period, the Kansas City Star reported. Williams’s testimony on Tuesday was part of a hearing over whether Planned Parenthood will retain its license to perform abortions in the state— the latest step in a battle over abortion access in Missouri. The St. Louis clinic is the only health care provider in the state that currently performs abortions. The document was reportedly created by a state health inspector who had access to medical records during the state’s annual inspection of the clinic, and it was found through legal discovery in an email titled “Director’s Request,” according to the Star. But in a statement on Wednesday night, a DHSS spokesperson denied that it was created at Williams’ request, calling it a “false claim” based on an “erroneous email subje...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized abortion Missouri onetime Source Type: news