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

From: Declan McCullagh (declanat_private)
Date: Thu Aug 23 2001 - 08:38:10 PDT

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    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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