I decided to put tihs here since i think it is a good example of the slow but GROWING govt invasion of our privacy and destruction of our freedoms. Your opinion on this specific subject is not the point. the point is....the governmantizing of your private life....the govt passes 'laws' which they then use as an excuse to open your personal records..in this case medical. This is just the first case...what happens when the govt decides that you should or shouldn't have other procedeers?? they will site this case and take your med records. Latley we are seeing alot 'firsts' in the the govt....the patriot acts are full of them.......whats next....

these are some highlights.......sorry, I lost the link but it is on the AP newswire......and while your looking...also notice that Ashcroft is in an investigation of steroid sellers and users in sports........hmmmmm....funny how bush mentioned that in the state of his union talk...so what else is in the works?????the ball continues to roll...........

remember..it is not your opinion on the subject that matters....it is what the govt is doing........

"NEW YORK (AP) - Under fire from abortion-rights groups, Attorney General John Ashcroft insisted Thursday that doctor-patient privacy is not threatened by a government attempt to subpoena medical records in a lawsuit over the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act.

At stake are records documenting certain late-term abortions performed by doctors who have joined in a legal challenge of the disputed ban. President Bush signed the act into law last year"

"People's medical records should not be the tools of political operatives," said Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. "All Americans should have the right to visit their doctor and receive sound medical attention without the fear of Big Brother looking into those records."

"U.S. District Judge Charles Kocoras quashed the subpoena, saying Illinois' medical privacy law superseded the government's need for the records. Kocoras said patients' privacy could be jeopardized even if their names were deleted, because their prior medical history would still be disclosed."

can a state do that??? maby IL should be invaded and taken over by the federal govt...(tounge firmly planted in cheeck)