FC: Judge orders anti-abortion activists to delete records from site

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

Once again, anti-abortion protesters are setting legal precedents. The last 
big case was the Nuremberg Files:
http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=nuremberg

Now it's a news-ish story, photograph and hospital report published on the 
Missionaries to the Unborn website. A judge has ruled that in this case, 
privacy trumps free speech and some of that information must be removed. Of 
course, (partial) mirror sites have already cropped up, and it's far 
cheaper for the anti-abortion activists to set up mirrors in places like 
South Africa than it is for the plaintiffs to sue every one of them. If 
that doesn't work, look for the anti-abortion activists to turn to cheap, 
anonymous publishing tools like Freenet. Economics favors unfettered 
expression over privacy.

Background on lawsuit:
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_div=3&u_hdg=0&u_sid=164639

While the Omaha World-Herald did include the URL to the site, the below AP 
story does not. The URL seems to be:
http://www.mttu.com/main.htm

Judging from the "Missionaries" homepage, they're using some of the 
document-police-contact tactics employed by anti-globalization protesters. 
(Note I am not saying I agree with what the anti-abortion activists are 
doing; what I'm doing is pointing out a trend.)

-Declan

*******

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010823/tc/abortion_internet_2.html

Judge Keeps Woman's Records Off Net
EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A judge Wednesday ordered three anti-abortion 
activists to stop publishing a woman's medical records detailing 
complications from an abortion.
The woman was treated at St. Elizabeth hospital in Granite City in June 
after suffering complications from an abortion at the Hope Clinic for Women.
Daniel and Angela Michael of Highland, who are regular protesters at the 
clinic, admitted they took pictures of the woman as she was taken to the 
hospital's emergency room.
[...]




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