Abortion, Every Day: EXCLUSIVE: Health Data Breach at America’s Largest Crisis Pregnancy Org
Heartbeat International is sharing women’s private health information
Heartbeat International, the country’s largest network of crisis pregnancy centers, claims that client confidentiality is a “core principle” of the organization. But videos obtained by Abortion, Every Day reveal that the anti-abortion powerhouse has been collecting and recklessly sharing women’s private health data with corporate employees, thousands of center trainees and, in one case, anyone with an internet connection.
The shocking privacy breach comes at a moment when Republican lawmakers are funneling hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs), claiming that they’ll fill the reproductive and maternal healthcare gap caused by their abortion bans. But the largely unregulated groups aren’t medical organizations looking out for the best interest of the vulnerable women who visit their centers. They’re religious groups whose goal of ending abortion is put above all else, including women’s rights and privacy.
For years, abortion rights advocates and feminists have warned that these centers routinely lie to women about everything from abortion risks to birth control, using scare tactics and shaming to deter them from ending their pregnancies. Now, post-Dobbs, CPCs are the perfect foot-soldiers for the anti-abortion movement’s increased efforts in data collection and attacks on privacy.
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