posted 04-06-2004 08:58 AM            

Protecting Your Privates
By Michael Ventura, Austin Chronicle
March 24, 2004
President George W. Bush has been skipping around the country accusing Sen. John Kerry of "flip-flops." Well ... I gotchyer flip-flop right here. It's a doozy. And it threatens not only the privacy but also, in a quite direct way, the privates of the citizens of these United States.
In 2000, Bush ran on a platform that loudly supported medical privacy. He has said, "I believe privacy is a fundamental right." In April 2001, he promised to protect, he said, "the right of every American to have confidence that his or her personal medical records would remain private." Tommy G. Thompson, secretary of health and human services, chimed in: "We are giving patients peace of mind in knowing that their medical records are confidential and their privacy is not vulnerable to intrusion."
That promise has been broken. On March 6, The New York Times ran a polite headline on page eight: "Administration Sets Forth a Limited View on Privacy." Decide for yourself the extent of the flip-flop – and whether the story didn't call for starker headlines on page one.
The Bush-Ashcroft Justice Department is attempting to force hospitals and clinics to turn over medical records on thousands of abortions. More than 2,700 files have been demanded in the San Francisco area alone. Files are also being sought from Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C., as well as the cities of L.A., Philly, Pittsburgh, New York City and still counting. Ashcroft claims these records will help him defend a new law prohibiting partial-birth abortions. Doctors are challenging the law on the ground that it prevents certain abortions even when they're medically necessary.
Fundamentally, Bush's claim is that the government can instruct doctors on the needs and treatment of their patients. One function of law is to set precedents. If the government has the right to dictate one aspect of medicine, and if that right is unchallenged and/or upheld, then a precedent has been set for government to dictate other medical priorities. There are honorable arguments for and against abortion, but it is difficult to imagine an honorable argument for the government's right to dictate specific medical care. If government can dictate something so intimate and personal then what, according to that precedent, can it not dictate?
Flip-flopping drastically on his 2001 promise, Bush's Justice Department now states that patients "no longer possess a reasonable expectation that their histories will remain completely confidential," adding that federal law "does not recognize a physician-patient privilege." Do not overlook a point that should be as alarming to conservatives as to progressives: These sweeping statements do not single out abortion cases; they cover all medical practice. The government is claiming the right to pry into any medical records – psychiatric, for instance, or records of substance-abuse treatment, AIDS, rape, incest, anything at all. Your privates, in short.
That is a radical reversal of two centuries of American legal practice. It is also a reversal and denial of what every American expects and assumes when in need of a doctor's help. When is anyone more vulnerable than when they need a doctor? The Bush administration is claiming the right to intrude upon that vulnerability.
This point was not lost on federal District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton, who denied the Justice Department access to abortion records from San Francisco area hospitals and Planned Parenthood clinics. The Times reported her stand that "forcing the providers to turn over records would undermine the privacy rights of patients and could dissuade some from seeking treatment." Judge Hamilton said, "There is no question that the patient is entitled to privacy and protection. Women are entitled to not have the government looking at their records."
When put that baldly, it's astonishing we're even having the argument. Of course people are entitled to not have the government snoop on their medical treatment. Bush doesn't agree, but, this being an election year, he's been forced to flip-flop back slightly. On March 9, Justice withdrew subpoenas from Planned Parenthood clinics, stating that "we will not move at this time" but might "renew our requests if necessary." For "if necessary" read "if re-elected." As of this writing, hospitals are still being harassed.
A Justice Department sop to privacy has been that names would be deleted from the records. But note: That nicety is not in their basic contention that people "no longer possess a reasonable expectation" of patient privacy and that federal law "does not recognize a physician-patient privilege." Judge Hamilton said the records the government is demanding contain "potentially identifying information of an extreme personal and intimate nature," including the age of first sexual experience, types of contraception used, details of abuse and of sexually transmitted diseases. Bush doesn't say why he needs those details, but he claims the right to know them.
The Times summarizes other critiques of his efforts: "If patients have no reasonable expectation of privacy ... the government may be more aggressive in seeking records from hospitals, insurance companies, and other businesses in criminal, civil, and administrative cases." That's putting it mildly. The only possible motivation for claiming such sweeping rights is to assemble dossiers of intimate material that, if Bush wins this issue, can then be used against dissenters of all kinds. (Remember that under the USA PATRIOT Act, many forms of dissent can be classed as "terrorism" at the president's whim.)
As is Bush's usual practice, he sent a small fry to publicly defend these drastic subpoenas, a spokesman named Trent D. Duffy (where does the far right get these names?!), who assured us all that this president is "strongly committed to medical privacy." The Bush White House does not answer questions. Instead it issues sweeping statements and is unconcerned that its statements arrogantly contradict its actions. Trent D. Duffy did not mention that the government has not informed any of the patients concerned that it wants their records. Nor did he comment on what else the government is demanding. This is the Times' summary of the government's demands:
The government also seeks these materials for the last three years:
Records of any second-trimester abortion in which the patient suffered a medical complication, regardless of the technique.
Records in any case in which a doctor caused a fetus' death by injecting chemical agents in the womb in the second or third trimester.
Documents related to any medical malpractice claims arising from certain abortions.
The names of all doctors who have performed any type of abortion.
The last item is especially chilling. All but "partial-birth" abortions are legal. So why is Bush demanding the names of all doctors who've performed a legal procedure? Obvious answer: a list for a witch-hunt. Those doctors can expect excessive, harassing scrutiny of their taxes, insurance forms, Medicare and Medicaid forms, etc. A president who breaks his promise to protect "the right of every American to have confidence that his or her medical records will remain private" (his own flip-flopping words), is easily capable of such harassment.
Remember that the Bill of Rights includes articles 9 and 10 of the Constitution: "9) The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 10) The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved for the States respectively, or to the people." Strict constructionists lie when they claim that if a right is not in the Constitution it doesn't exist. The Bill of Rights insists, twice, that not only the states but also the people have rights that are not enumerated in the Constitution but that nevertheless must not be disparaged or denied. To deny that an inalienable right of privacy is assumed in the Bill of Rights is to deny the Bill of Rights.
If Bush doesn't consider even your medical records private (as he promised he would), he must assume that your privacy itself is government property.

posted 04-06-2004 10:54 AM            

Impeach!

This is sickening!

I will pass it on!

Bought a bumper sticker the other day:

Blow it out your Ashcroft!

posted 04-06-2004 12:13 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by KNOW-THIS:
Fundamentally, Bush's claim is that the government can instruct doctors on the needs and treatment of their patients. One function of law is to set precedents. If the government has the right to dictate one aspect of medicine, and if that right is unchallenged and/or upheld, then a precedent has been set for government to dictate other medical priorities. There are honorable arguments for and against abortion, but it is difficult to imagine an honorable argument for the government's right to dictate specific medical care. If government can dictate something so intimate and personal then what, according to that precedent, can it not dictate?

---

Setting precedent is EXACTLY what they are trying to do. This is quite serious! They’re throwing another log on that Rights Stripping fire! They’re obviously using a means they feel the majority will least likely object to! Disgusting! I wonder why they’d want total access to medical records anyway? So they can alter records to suit their needs or is it something MORE sinister?

Speaking of flip flops! Dumbya IS Mr. Flip Flop Incarnate! Lying hypocrite! So now we can add another item to his already LONG LIST!

http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&b=42263

1. Department of Homeland Security

BUSH OPPOSES THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY..."So, creating a Cabinet office doesn't solve the problem. You still will have agencies within the federal government that have to be coordinated. So the answer is that creating a Cabinet post doesn't solve anything." [White House spokesman Ari Fleischer, 3/19/02]

...BUSH SUPPORTS THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY "So tonight, I ask the Congress to join me in creating a single, permanent department with an overriding and urgent mission: securing the homeland of America and protecting the American people." [President Bush, Address to the Nation, 6/6/02]

2. Weapons of Mass Destruction

BUSH SAYS WE FOUND THE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION..."We found the weapons of mass destruction. We found biological laboratories…for those who say we haven't found the banned manufacturing devices or banned weapons, they're wrong, we found them." [President Bush, Interview in Poland, 5/29/03]

...BUSH SAYS WE HAVEN'T FOUND WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION "David Kay has found the capacity to produce weapons. And when David Kay goes in and says we haven't found stockpiles yet, and there's theories as to where the weapons went. They could have been destroyed during the war. Saddam and his henchmen could have destroyed them as we entered into Iraq. They could be hidden. They could have been transported to another country, and we'll find out." [President Bush, Meet the Press, 2/7/04]

3. Free Trade

BUSH SUPPORTS FREE TRADE... "I believe strongly that if we promote trade, and when we promote trade, it will help workers on both sides of this issue." [President Bush in Peru, 3/23/02]

...BUSH SUPPORTS RESTRICTIONS ON TRADE "In a decision largely driven by his political advisers, President Bush set aside his free-trade principles last year and imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel to help out struggling mills in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, two states crucial for his reelection." [Washington Post, 9/19/03]

4. Osama Bin Laden

BUSH WANTS OSAMA DEAD OR ALIVE... "I want justice. And there's an old poster out West, I recall, that says, 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.'" [President Bush, on Osama Bin Laden, 09/17/01]

...BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT OSAMA "I don't know where he is. I have no idea and I really don't care. It's not that important." [President Bush, Press Conference, 3/13/02]

5. The Environment

BUSH SUPPORTS MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE... "[If elected], Governor Bush will work to…establish mandatory reduction targets for emissions of four main pollutants: sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and carbon dioxide." [Bush Environmental Plan, 9/29/00]

...BUSH OPPOSES MANDATORY CAPS ON CARBON DIOXIDE "I do not believe, however, that the government should impose on power plants mandatory emissions reductions for carbon dioxide, which is not a 'pollutant' under the Clean Air Act." [President Bush, Letter to Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), 3/13/03]

6. WMD Commission

BUSH RESISTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD INTELLIGENCE FAILURE... "The White House immediately turned aside the calls from Kay and many Democrats for an immediate outside investigation, seeking to head off any new wide-ranging election-year inquiry that might go beyond reports already being assembled by congressional committees and the Central Intelligence Agency." [NY Times, 1/29/04]

...BUSH SUPPORTS AN OUTSIDE INVESTIGATION ON WMD INTELLIGENCE FAILURE "Today, by executive order, I am creating an independent commission, chaired by Governor and former Senator Chuck Robb, Judge Laurence Silberman, to look at American intelligence capabilities, especially our intelligence about weapons of mass destruction." [President Bush, 2/6/04]

7. Creation of the 9/11 Commission

BUSH OPPOSES CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION... "President Bush took a few minutes during his trip to Europe Thursday to voice his opposition to establishing a special commission to probe how the government dealt with terror warnings before Sept. 11." [CBS News, 5/23/02]

...BUSH SUPPORTS CREATION OF INDEPENDENT 9/11 COMMISSION "President Bush said today he now supports establishing an independent commission to investigate the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks." [ABC News, 09/20/02]

8. Time Extension for 9/11 Commission

BUSH OPPOSES TIME EXTENSION FOR 9/11 COMMISSION... "President Bush and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) have decided to oppose granting more time to an independent commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks." [Washington Post, 1/19/04]

...BUSH SUPPORTS TIME EXTENSION FOR 9/11 COMMISSION "The White House announced Wednesday its support for a request from the commission investigating the September 11, 2001 attacks for more time to complete its work." [CNN, 2/4/04]

9. One Hour Limit for 9/11 Commission Testimony

BUSH LIMITS TESTIMONY IN FRONT OF 9/11 COMMISSION TO ONE HOUR... "President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have placed strict limits on the private interviews they will grant to the federal commission investigating the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that they will meet only with the panel's top two officials and that Mr. Bush will submit to only a single hour of questioning, commission members said Wednesday." [NY Times, 2/26/04]

...BUSH SETS NO TIMELIMIT FOR TESTIMONY "The president's going to answer all of the questions they want to raise. Nobody's watching the clock." [White House spokesman Scott McClellan, 3/10/04]

10. Gay Marriage

BUSH SAYS GAY MARRIAGE IS A STATE ISSUE... "The state can do what they want to do. Don't try to trap me in this state's issue like you're trying to get me into." [Gov. George W. Bush on Gay Marriage, Larry King Live, 2/15/00]

...BUSH SUPPORTS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BANNING GAY MARRIAGE "Today I call upon the Congress to promptly pass, and to send to the states for ratification, an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of man and woman as husband and wife." [President Bush, 2/24/04]

11. Nation Building

BUSH OPPOSES NATION BUILDING... "If we don't stop extending our troops all around the world in nation-building missions, then we're going to have a serious problem coming down the road." [Gov. George W. Bush, 10/3/00]

...BUSH SUPPORTS NATION BUILDING "We will be changing the regime of Iraq, for the good of the Iraqi people." [President Bush, 3/6/03]

12. Saddam/al Qaeda Link

BUSH SAYS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEEN AL QAEDA AND SADDAM... "You can't distinguish between al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror." [President Bush, 9/25/02]

...BUSH SAYS SADDAM HAD NO ROLE IN AL QAEDA PLOT "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved in Sept. 11." [President Bush, 9/17/03]

13. U.N. Resolution

BUSH VOWS TO HAVE A UN VOTE NO MATTER WHAT... "No matter what the whip count is, we're calling for the vote. We want to see people stand up and say what their opinion is about Saddam Hussein and the utility of the United Nations Security Council. And so, you bet. It's time for people to show their cards, to let the world know where they stand when it comes to Saddam." [President Bush 3/6/03]

...BUSH WITHDRAWS REQUEST FOR VOTE "At a National Security Council meeting convened at the White House at 8:55 a.m., Bush finalized the decision to withdraw the resolution from consideration and prepared to deliver an address to the nation that had already been written." [Washington Post, 3/18/03]

14. Involvement in the Palestinian Conflict

BUSH OPPOSES SUMMITS... "Well, we've tried summits in the past, as you may remember. It wasn't all that long ago where a summit was called and nothing happened, and as a result we had significant intifada in the area." [President Bush, 04/05/02]

...BUSH SUPPORTS SUMMITS "If a meeting advances progress toward two states living side by side in peace, I will strongly consider such a meeting. I'm committed to working toward peace in the Middle East." [President Bush, 5/23/03]

15. Campaign Finance

BUSH OPPOSES MCCAIN-FEINGOLD... "George W. Bush opposes McCain-Feingold...as an infringement on free expression." [Washington Post, 3/28/2000]