Yes, the fact of abortion is placed in your personal medical record, and it is not a public one. This data is guarded by the privacy laws where only qualified medical practitioners have the right to look at it.
Learning more about what is contained in your health record and who views it makes you a more educated person to decide whether you want to continue with your care and privacy.
What Are Health Records?
Health record is a detailed file containing your medical history, diagnoses, treatment, prescriptions and test results. It assists physicians to deliver quality and uninterrupted care.
Health records come in different types which include:
- EMRs
Digital data that is maintained in your clinic or hospital. - Hospital Charts
These are used when you are staying in the hospital as a way of keeping track of the treatment. - Insurance Files
There is billing codes and procedure details in case you were using insurance.
Who Can Access Them?
- You: You as the patient are entitled to see your medical records.
- Your Healthcare Providers: Doctors/nurses and specialists who will be directly engaged in your care.
- Your Insurance Company: In case you had insurance done on the procedure.
- Health records do not belong to the category of public documents they are safeguarded by the medical privacy legislation like the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in the U.S.
Does an Abortion Show up in your Medical History?
No, an abortion is a part of your personal medical history as any other medical procedure (such as surgery or vaccination).
This record assists the doctors to know about your previous treatments in order to offer you better treatment in future.
It does not show itself to the citizens, employers, educational institutions, and police.
Why It’s Recorded
- To secure future safe continuous healthcare.
- To check possible complications or need to follow up.
- In order to uphold proper and ethical medical documentation.
- And it is in your own personal health file but it is strictly confidential.
Who Can See This Information?
- You and Your Healthcare Providers.
Your abortion record can only be seen by medical professionals who treat you, i.e. doctors, nurses, and clinic staff.
They are going to make use of this information to have your future care safe and proper (as in knowing your reproductive history).
- Insurance Companies (If Used)
Assuming you used health insurance to cover your abortion, your insurance company may only acquire little information, including billing code or type of procedure, on:
- Insurance claims
- Explanation of Benefits (EOB) statements.
This information is not however provided to outsiders such as billing and verification of coverage.
- When you Pay Privately (Out of Pocket).
When you make payments in cash or out-of-pocket, only fewer entities can access your information.
There are still records that are in the private system of the clinic, but there are no insurance files that are generated, which provides an added personal privacy.
Does Abortion Seem to be on the Other Records?
No, the abortion procedures are not covered on:
- Criminal records
- Educational or school files
- Employment or work records
Your health record is independent of any legal, professional, and educational databases.
It is only accessible to the healthcare professionals. Also, checkout our article How Early Can You Have an Abortion?
How to Protect Your Privacy?
In case it is important because of confidentiality, you can also take some measures to keep the maximum level of privacy:
- Select exclusive or special clinics that are highly confidential.
- Pay out of pocket to evade insurance records.
- Inquire with your provider on the storage of your medical data.
- Unsubscribe to email or SMS messages in connection with patient portals.
- Watch out digital health apps – never disclose information to unchecked or insecure apps.
What happens when you change or switch doctors.
In the case that you change healthcare provider or switch doctors, your new medical facility will only have access to your previous records in case you give permission.
You have the right to:
- Choose what you would share about your medical history.
- Order incomplete or complete copy of records.
- Filter what kind of information you would rather keep confidential.
- It implies that your abortion history would be private, except in those cases where you chose to disclose the information.
FAQs | Does Abortion Show Up on Medical Records?
Will my partner or parents be aware of it?
No. Your health history is confidential. No one, not even parents, partners, may have access to it without your consent (except in some cases with regard to minors, local laws may vary).
Is my abortion record visible to my employer or my school?
No. Your medical records are not available to employers, schools and other public institutions.
In case I take insurance, will it be reflected in my bill?
Yes, it may be presented in your form of procedure or description on your explanation of benefit (EOB) or billing account only to the account holder.
Will you be pleased to take it off my record?
No, in the majority of cases, medical records are documents that are not portable in law, but you can demand limited access or confidential notes.
Suppose I have an abortion in a different state or through telemedicine?
The provider who did the service or prescribed the service will record it but still under medical privacy laws.
Conclusion
There is an abortion on your health record, but it is a confidential medical record and is not a public record. It can only be accessed by you and by licensed medical practitioners.
Some of the measures you can consider to curb privacy threats include paying in cash, inquiring about the location of your information, and restricting the distribution of your records.
Your medical choices, including abortion are private, legally ensured and in every way your prerogative.
