Des Moines, Iowa – An open records request for public documents has been denied by the Iowa Medical Board, which tipped off Planned Parenthood of the Heartland that the request for public records had been made. Planned Parenthood then filed a suit against a medical watchdog group to block the release of the documents.

Operation Rescue was contacted by the Citizen’s Information Center located in Boston, Massachusetts, a group that conducts research on the medical industry through public records. They sent OR a copy of a law suit filed against the CIC by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland on August 9, 2010, in Polk County, Iowa, asking the court to enjoin the release of public records to the CIC. As of this writing, no court hearing date has been set and no injunction has been issued.

Along with the petition, the CIC sent Operation Rescue a series of emails that clearly show that their public records request was forwarded to Planned Parenthood of the Heartland by an Iowa Board of Medicine staff member.

Operation Rescue has released a copy of the suit filed by Planned Parenthood against the CIC as well as a series of e-mail communications that were provided to the CIC by Amy Van Maanen, Director of Licensure & Administration at the Iowa Board of Medicine. (Links below)

On August 9, 2010, attorney for Planned Parenthood Mike Falkstrom sent an e-mail to Kent Nebel, Director of Legal Affairs for the Iowa Medical Board. Falkstrom stated:

Kent,

We’re filing to enjoin the release of records today. I apologize for the delay, there were scheduling issues with taking affidavits and I was unable to get them until last week. I appreciate your patience.

Thanks!
Mike Falkstrom

“That e-mail implies a working relationship and prior communication between Mr. Nebel and the Planned Parenthood attorney concerning the open records request. Why would the IBM work with Planned Parenthood to obstruct a citizen from accessing public records? What is the IBM helping Planned Parenthood to hide?” asked Operation Rescue President Troy Newman.

The file in question is the medical license application for Planned Parenthood abortionist Susan Haskell, an osteopath who is involved in the controversial remote-controlled dispensing of abortion drugs known as telemed abortions.

Operation Rescue confirmed with the IBM that medical license applications are in fact public records.

“We have obtained medical license applications from a number of states on our own and the usual procedure is for the medical boards to redact any personal information, such as home addresses and phone numbers. We have never seen a case where access to a medical license application was denied,” said Newman.

In a conversation with Operation Rescue on Friday, Kent Nebel indicated that he was required by law to inform Haskell that an open records request had been made for her license application in order to give her the opportunity to obtain an injunction. He cited Iowa Code Section 22.8.

OR was told that this code requires the IBM to give notice to the physicians when public records requests are made, however ‘notice’ requirement in 22.8.1 is clearly a requirement to notify the records requester that the custodian of records has filed for injunctive relief.

“It is a misreading of the statute to say that the subject of the records must be notified,” said Newman.

As for any potential “harm” claim that may come from the release of public records, any private information can be easily redacted, as is the practice in nearly every other state. Medical license applications are public record for reasons of accountability. Under Iowa law, “inconvenience or embarrassment” are not legitimate reasons to deny public records requests or to get an injunction.

“If Haskell doesn’t want her applications inspected by the public, which has a legal right to do so, maybe she shouldn’t working in the medical field where she knows certain information will be considered open record,” said Newman.

“We believe that Mr. Nebel acted improperly by forwarding the CIC open record request to Planned Parenthood and denying the CIC the records that were legally requested. This incident diminishes our confidence that the Board is capable of acting properly on complaints before them involving Planned Parenthood’s dangerous telemed abortion pill distribution scheme.”

As for the petition itself, Planned Parenthood makes numerous of unfounded assumptions about the CIC that Operation Rescue is told are completely false and border on paranoid hysteria.

“Planned Parenthood has no idea who this private watchdog group is, so they jumped to the unfounded assumption that it is a ‘anti-abortion’ group bent on engaging in illegal activity. They really have no idea why the CIC even wants the records, so they manufactured some fictional conspiracy. They worry the CIC may use the information to ’slander’ Haskell, yet they are doing worse to the CIC by attacking their reputation in this outlandish and completely baseless petition. It is the very definition of hypocrisy,” said Newman.

Operation Rescue plans to release additional documents at a later date that we believe shows a protective and apparently improper relationship between the Iowa Attorney General’s office and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland.

“There is evidence that the Iowa Attorney General may be involved in collusion and even corruption to protect Planned Parenthood of the Heartland from accountability to the laws of the State of Iowa,” said Newman. “We plan to release that additional documentation soon and allow the public to decide.”

View the petition: PPH v. CIC
View the email exchange between PPH and the IBM

Des Moines, IA — Today the Iowa Board of Medicine issued a press release announcing the formation of an ad hoc committee to study the use of telemedicine in Iowa.

The following is a statement from Operation Rescue President Troy Newman in response to that announcement:

We were aware that the Iowa Board of Medicine formed this ad hoc committee because we attended the Board meeting on Aug. 20 where it was announced.

We are glad that telemedicine will be studied and hope that the committee will especially focus on the misuse of telemedicine by Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, which distributes dangerous abortion pills through a remote controlled push button system that denies the patient access to examination by a licensed physician as well as any meaningful doctor/patient relationship.

However, due to the way nearly 30 citizens were treated at the last Board meeting, we have concerns that the Board may not give our concerns for the health and safety of women fair consideration.

At the Aug. 20 meeting in which the Board solicited public comment on telemedicine, the Board, without notice, limited access to the meeting to only six people, then limited the total length of comments on telemedicine to only 10 minutes. The rest of the citizens, some who drove several hours to be heard, were forced by the Board to stand outside in the rain. There were health care professionals, attorneys, clergy, and leaders of a number of different groups that represented the concerns of thousands of Iowans that simply were not heard, or were limited in some cases to mere seconds of comment. Despite whatever the Board may say, that act clearly communicated to us that the Board is completely uninterested in hearing our concerns.

In addition, we have received documentation regarding the relationship between certain IBM staff members and Planned Parenthood of the Heartland that further erodes our confidence that the Board is capable of sound judgment regarding any issue related to Planned Parenthood. We plan to release our documentation on Monday.

Background

Los Angeles, CA – Abortionists in three states are feeling the heat as legal woes continue to mount.

Andrew Rutland, California

In California, a lawsuit has been filed against abortionist Andrew Rutland for malpractice and wrongful death in the case of Ying Chen who died in 2009 during a botched abortion at a filthy and ill-equipped acupuncture clinic in San Gabriel. The suit was filed by Chen’s boyfriend, Zixiang Hu, on behalf of their 2-year-old daughter after the coroner’s office reclassified Chen’s death as a homicide.

The California Medical Board has been after Rutland for months and recently amended their disciplinary petition against him to reflect the fact that Chen’s death is now officially a homicide. It is hoped that this will help the Board gain a permanent revocation of Rutland’s medical license when it meets to consider his shoddy abortion practices in February, 2010.

Read more about Operation Rescue’s efforts to bring Rutland to justice.

Alberto Hodari, Michigan

Michigan abortionist Alberto Hodari is the subject of a lawsuit filed last week by the Thomas More Society of Chicago for the release of government documents explaining why Hodari was never disciplined for the illegal dumping of the human remains of aborted babies in 2008.

Monica Miller of the Citizens for a Pro-Life Society discovered the remains of aborted children in dumpsters outside several of Hodari’s Detroit-area abortion mills along with private patient medical records. Hodari was placed on probation for illegal dumping of medical records, but was never disciplined for the illegal disposal of human remains.

Hodari faces possible disciplinary action after Caitlin Bruce filed a complaint with the Michigan medical board over an abortion Hodari forced on her in 2008. Bruce has also sued Hodari over her horrific ordeal where she says she changed her mind about the abortion and tried to leave, but was held down by a male assistant while Hodari forced the abortion on her. Additional malpractice suits are also pending against Hodari.

Hodari also recently divorced and has placed all of his seven abortion clinics up for sale.

Read more about Operation Rescue’s efforts to bring Hodari to justice.

Rapin Osathanondh, Massachusetts

Abortionist Rapin Osathanondh faces trial for manslaughter on September 7, 2010, in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, nearly 3 years to the day after he killed Laura Hope Smith during a botched abortion. Osathanondh’s Hyannis abortion mill was understaffed and ill-equipped for emergencies when Ms. Smith suffered complications to the powerful anesthesia that the abortionist improperly used. She died at the clinic.

Operation Rescue worked with Laura’s mother, Eileen Smith, to bring Osathanondh to justice. Since then, Osathanondh has surrendered his medical license and closed his two abortion clinics.

Please join Operation Rescue in praying for strength for the Smith family during this trial and that Osathanondh will be properly brought to justice in that court of law.

Read backgroud on this story.