FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 31, 2024

Contact: Michael Clauw, mclauw@campaignforaccountability.org, 202.780.5750

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, Jessica Valenti’s Abortion, Every Day reported on a series of Heartbeat International training videos which appear to show the anti-abortion organization revealing the names and personal health information of over a dozen women that visited one of its affiliate crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs). The videos also appear to confirm that Heartbeat collects identifiable health information from clients of its affiliate CPCs and makes that data available to an unknown number of staff and volunteers for nonessential purposes.

In response, Campaign for Accountability Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith released the following statement:

“Heartbeat International’s apparent disregard for privacy calls into question the privacy practices of their affiliates. Anyone who has visited a Heartbeat-affiliated CPC should have the right to know whether their data has been passed up to Heartbeat, and if so, how many people have accessed it for nonessential purposes. If any CPC passing information to Heartbeat is also inaccurately claiming HIPAA compliance, there is greater urgency for state attorneys general to hold them accountable for these deceptive claims.”

In April, Campaign for Accountability sent complaints to the attorneys general of Idaho, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington alleging CPCs in their states appear to violate consumer protection laws by telling clients their personal health information is protected under the HIPAA—a law that Heartbeat has acknowledged does not apply to the vast majority of these centers. Nonetheless, attorneys for Heartbeat claimed in a 2022 letter to Democratic senators that the organization “has never made personally identifiable information public.” These new revelations appear to directly refute that claim.

Campaign for Accountability is a nonpartisan, nonprofit watchdog organization that uses research, litigation, and aggressive communications to expose misconduct and malfeasance in public life and hold those who act at the expense of the public good accountable for their actions.