Senate Democrats press crisis pregnancy centers on what data they collect

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Senate Democrats are pressing the country’s largest network of crisis pregnancy centers to disclose what type of sensitive health information the organization gathers from its patients, how it is secured, and if it is shared, expressing concerns that the data could be used for abortion-related prosecutions.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and six other senators requested that Heartbeat International, an anti-abortion organization that has over 2,000 affiliates in the U.S., provide information about how it collects and stores patient data, arguing that since its facilities are not necessarily bound by federal health data privacy laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, it is not required to maintain confidentiality of the information, leaving patients and their healthcare providers “at risk of criminal penalties.”

OVER 80% OF PREGNANCY-RELATED DEATHS BETWEEN 2017-2019 WERE PREVENTABLE: CDC

“While your organization and many of its affiliate CPCs claim to adhere to HIPAA to protect patients’ health information, it does not disclose how it is using the data it collects, whether it is keeping personal information secure, and whether it intends to do so in the future,” a letter to Heartbeart International reads. “We are concerned that the lack of transparency and lack of protection will allow the data Heartbeat International and its affiliates collect to ‘be used in pregnancy- and abortion-related prosecutions.”

Sens. Warren, Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Ed Markey (D-MA), and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) claimed that the organization’s affiliates attract pregnant women using “false and misleading tactics,” such as offering patients confidentiality agreements that do not offer the same protections as HIPAA.

The senators requested that the organization answer a series of questions about its data collection process by Oct. 3, including responding to what type of information the organization collects, if the organization has ever shared data with law enforcement, and how it ensures that the data are safe and secure. They also asked the organization if law enforcement has ever required that they turn over data and if so, to list the times and circumstances they did.

The organization, which previously filed an amicus brief encouraging the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, uses its data collection system that anticipates a woman’s risk level for obtaining an abortion, according to the letter. A 24/7 hotline staffed by the organization also fields calls and documents data from more than 5 million women.

“It is deeply troubling that your organization has provided limited clarity, or no clarity whatsoever, about “how the data [it collects] is used [and] stored, and for how long,” the letter reads.

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The organization defended its practices Tuesday, arguing that they were all secure and legal, calling the senator’s letter a “stunt designed to appease Big Abortion power brokers.”

“What we do is safe, secure, and legal. Heartbeat has been providing help for more than fifty years and never once did we receive any of these questions or concerns until recently, and then from those with a clear abortion agenda. It’s politics, and we regret only that it’s a distraction to our important work of helping women find alternatives to abortion,” said Jor-El Godsey, president of Heartbeat International, in a statement.

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