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Planned Parenthood Sues Ind. Attorney General to Protect Client Files

Planned Parenthood of Indiana has gone to court to block the state's attorney general from seizing the confidential medical records of its clients.

The state's leading reproductive health care provider claims that Attorney General Steve Carter is acting outside the scope of his authority by using Indiana's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit to seize the records without a cause for investigation.

"This is a clear-cut case of abuse of power," Planned Parenthood of Indiana CEO Betty Cockrum said in a statement. "Instead of protecting medical privacy rights, the attorney general is selling them out to his fishing expedition."

In early March an agent of IMFCU entered three Planned Parenthood health centers in the state and seized the medical records of eight minor patients who had received reproductive health services. The patients whose records were seized were 12 and 13 at the time the services were provided.

The IMFCU has since informed Planned Parenthood of its intent to seize an additional 73 medical records from 19 of the organization's health centers, according to the lawsuit.

Planned Parenthood says it does not know why the attorney general wants the records. Carter said in a statement that his office has an obligation to investigate whether Planned Parenthood and other health care clinics are following the state law requiring them to report cases of children who have had sex before age 14.

Indiana law considers sexually active children under 14 to be victims of rape or molestation.

"There is no cause for any investigation by the IMFCU in that at all times Planned Parenthood has complied with Indiana and federal law," the lawsuit says. "Planned Parenthood of Indiana recognizes and has imposed standards and procedures to insure that it abides by its statutory duties to report alleged child abuse and neglect."

The organization says Indiana law does not require reports of child abuse to be made available to the IMFCU. It also says the form letter provided by the IMFCU investigator on each visit was undated and was not specifically addressed to anyone.

"Our staff is trained to comply with the law, and when we handed over the initial records, we believed that we were compelled by law to do so," Cockrum said. "However, upon further review it is our belief that the attorney general has twisted the law for some other purpose."

The complaint seeks to enjoin the IMFCU from conducting searches and seizures of Planned Parenthood patients' records absent a legitimate investigation. The organization also requests the return of all records to Planned Parenthood.