Abortion clinic secretary indicted for giving private info to religious group

A secretary in an abortion clinic and two other women were indicted on Sunday for infringement of privacy, after they were suspected of passing information regarding women about to have terminations to a religious organization, which then tried to talk them out of undergoing the procedures.

The Cybercrime Department of the State Attorney’s Office said it had filed an indictment against the three defendants for violating privacy, giving out and using confidential, personal, and sensitive medical information.

According to the charge sheet, in June, 2016, Lidor Danino, who worked as a secretary at Sheva Enaim women’s health clinic in Beersheba, contacted the Hidabroot organization, a religious outreach organization, and gave them names of women who were about to have abortions.

Headquarters of the Hidabroot outreach organization in Petah Tikva. (Screen capture: Ynet news)

Hidabroot has a division called “Ima (mother),” which works to convince women not to have abortions, offering financial and emotional support. Danino allegedly gave the group names, identity numbers, phone numbers, and other personal information to two women who worked for Hidabroot.

According to the indictment, the women used the information they received to contact several women who were about to undergo abortions, and attempted to talk them out of the procedure.

The indictment said that the three women had called large numbers of women before one filed a complaint with the Health Ministry.

According to prosecutors, the leak of legally protected private information allowed the NGO to “take advantage of the fragile condition and distress of the women.”

The defendants could face a jail sentence for mishandling personal information.

Hidabroot, founded in 2008 by Rabbi Zamir Cohen, bills itself as “the world’s largest Jewish TV network,” but also has many other departments, all devoted to convincing non-religious Jews to become more religious.