Attleboro crisis pregnancy center stole data, tricked patients, lawsuit alleges

A women’s gynecological clinic in Attleboro is suing a neighboring crisis pregnancy center, accusing it of hacking its confidential online portal and misleading patients to prevent abortion.

Four Women Health Services alleges that Attleboro Women’s Health Center, also named Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resource Center, broke computer fraud, consumer protection, and wiretapping laws in a civil lawsuit filed on Sept. 5 in U.S. District Court in Boston.

Four Women is a licensed clinic founded in 1998 to ensure women can access reproductive health care, often serving low-income communities. It is one of only three reproductive health care clinics that provides abortion care in the southeastern portion of the state and the only one offering surgical abortion services. It is a for-profit company that accepts health insurance and direct payments from patients.

On the other hand, Attleboro Women’s Health Center is a nonprofit that serves patients at no cost. The center provides diagnosing of pregnancies and ultrasounds despite not being licensed by the state, the claim says.

Boston.com could not reach Darlene Howard, the executive director of Attleboro Women’s Health Center. However, she told The Boston Globe that the center had no comment on the allegations. The Atteleboro Police Department did not receive any reporting incidents or police reports on this alleged conduct.

Reproductive Equity Now lists Attleboro Women’s Health Center as an anti-abortion center or crisis pregnancy center, which it defines as a facility that presents itself as a resource for people facing unplanned pregnancies but exists to dissuade people from accessing abortion care.

The lawsuit follows Gov. Maura Healey’s public awareness campaign on crisis pregnancy centers this past summer. Your Options Medical, another listed crisis pregnancy center, followed by suing state officials, saying the campaign infringed on its constitutional rights.

With a little over 30 crisis pregnancy centers in the state, the Healey administration says the centers outnumber comprehensive reproductive health clinics by more than two to one in the state. 

Where problems began:

Problems began between Four Women and Attleboro Women’s Health Center in 2018 when the center attempted to open an office in the same building as Four Women but failed. Instead, the center moved into the building next door, which shares a parking lot and driveway with the clinic. 

In addition to being confusing in location, individuals on behalf of the center allegedly often try to interfere with Four Women patients in the parking lot and attempt to give them literature and other information before entering. 

Other alleged confusion tactics include people working for the center wearing the same vests as Four Women volunteers, who help direct patients to the right place. 

When women accidentally enter the center, staff allegedly do not inform them that they are in the wrong place and often prevent them from leaving by conducting lengthy intake procedures.

The suit alleges that the center performed hundreds of “medical appointments” and “medical tests” worth $157,000 last year. 

“Four Women can only imagine how many women have been deterred or blocked from receiving any care from Four Women as a result of (Attleboro Women’s Health Clinic’s) deception, or how many women AWHC has placed at risk through its illegal and dangerous medical advice,” the suit says. 

Cyber hacks:

In addition, Four Women alleges the crisis pregnancy center breached its electronic platforms to access confidential patient-client communications and then used the information to intercept patients. 

Rapid7, a software company, evaluated the suspected cybersecurity incident on behalf of Four Women. In an affidavit, the company concluded that the security risk was within the third-party web-based platforms, including Klara Technologies, which offers a secure messaging platform to schedule appointments, and Athenahealth Inc., a health record system where the information is uploaded. 

Matthew Patton, an attorney for Four Women, says how the center breached their data is still unclear. 

However, as the complaint lays out, there are clear examples of why they think this is the case. 

One example was on Oct. 30, 2023, when a woman messaged Four Women through the Klara widget on its website to schedule an ultrasound. Klara staff communicated that they had appointments on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday that week through electronic messaging. 

About 15 minutes later, the woman said she received a call from someone at the office and had scheduled an appointment for Thursday morning. However, Four Women did not contact the patient. She later learned that the text confirming the appointment was from the Attleboro Women’s Health Clinic, not Four Women.

The woman never contacted the center before. 

Another example includes a woman who contacted Four Women on May 1 through the app to schedule an abortion. A little over an hour later, she received a call from a phone number that appeared to be from Attleboro Women’s Health Center’s phone number. A person claimed that she would have to have an ultrasound at the center before she could receive an abortion.

Damages:

The lawsuit asks for an injunction to stop Attleboro Women’s Health Center from accessing Four Women’s data, misleading patients and potential patients, providing ultrasounds, and promoting itself as a full-service clinic when it is not licensed.

Four Women is seeking court fees and damages up to $20,000 for violating state and federal laws, as well as triple damages and interest for unfair trade practices.