Townsville hospital is investigating an alleged privacy breach after anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe said a “whistleblower” had sent her an image containing distressing and sensitive abortion content.
Howe posted a video on social media that included a picture of a 16-week-old foetus that she said was taken inside the hospital’s Butterfly Room, a place for grieving parents, saying “Samuel” was “born alive” after an abortion.
No evidence was given to support that claim and Howe has been contacted for comment. Multiple health experts have previously said claims by anti-abortion activists that large numbers of babies are “born alive” after abortions are misleading, including in evidence to a state and federal parliamentary inquiry.
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Howe said a Queensland hospital worker sent the image to her.
Instagram blocked the automatic appearance of the image, warning that some people might find it upsetting.
In a second video, Howe posted specific medical information about a number of birth outcomes including the date and time, sex, birth weight, abortion medications used and any injury to the mother, taken from records inside the hospital. She blurred the names of the patients, but the information visible would be enough for them to identify themselves.
She named one of those born both “Amira” and “Mira”. The origin of the names was unclear.
“Another Queensland whistleblower took this photo of the book in a Queensland hospital where births are recorded,” she wrote.
The president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Dr Nisha Khot, said publicly posting such material when a family was going through something so heartbreaking was “deplorable”.
“This is just preying on vulnerable people. This is such a vulnerable time for them and their families, they’re going through something that is heartbreaking,” she said.
The chief executive of the Townsville Hospital and Health Service, Kieran Keyes, said the service was aware of the social media posts “and the serious breach of confidentiality”, and was investigating.
“We take the privacy of our patients and staff seriously.”
Queensland’s Office of the Health Ombudsman said it was aware of the social media posts and could not comment on specific cases, but that complaints would be “thoroughly considered and managed” in accordance with the law.
“Allegations of privacy breaches by health service providers, particularly those involving sensitive healthcare information, are treated with the utmost seriousness,” the office said.
“Queensland public hospitals must comply with the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011 and the Information Privacy Act 2009, and the unauthorised access, use, or disclosure of personal or sensitive information, including patient records, is strictly prohibited.
“Such breaches can result in significant consequences, including disciplinary action, civil penalties, or criminal prosecution.”
Access to patient information “should be strictly limited to authorised healthcare professionals and staff who require it to perform their duties,” it added.
“Any unauthorised access, sharing, or publication of such information is a clear violation of privacy laws, and relevant codes and guidelines that apply to health service providers.”
In a statement to Guardian Australia, Howe said: “The world needs to see baby Samuel’s face and hear Amira’s story. When we choose to look away from the victims of genocide, the violence continues.”
Howe, a migration law professor at Adelaide University, has previously been accused of spreading misinformation about abortion.
She has been banned from the South Australian parliament for alleged “insults and threatening and intimidating tactics” during an abortion law debate.
She has worked with state and federal politicians to draft laws aimed at repealing abortion rights.
MPs who are pro-choice say they have suffered death threats and vile abuse from third parties after her anti-abortion campaigns. On social media Howe has labelled some of them part of “The Baby-Killers Club”.
Khot said no woman had an abortion “without giving it a whole lot of thought and a whole lot of heartache”.
“What’s happening in the US is affecting how we have these discussions, and it is getting worse because there is so much misinformation,” she said.
Howe responded in a third video to a social media follower who commented that the video of the foetus should be censored, that it was disturbing and sad, and that some people might want a trigger warning.
Howe said the information came from a “whistleblower” exposing “genocide”, and that “the world needs to see baby Samuel’s face”.
“I know it’s hard, I know some of you have been through miscarriages and stillbirths of your own, and I feel for you, but the system and the monsters who kill these babies don’t want you to see this photo, and I need everybody to see it,” she said.
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