united-states privacy civil-law
Can a woman sue a person who informs her child about the abortions she has had?
<p>If an adult has knowledge of how many abortions that a woman has had in her lifetime and that adult was to inform a child of that woman about her abortions and this leads to that child suffering emotional distress, can the woman who had those abortions sue that adult for revealing this information to her child?</p>

<p>I am curious to know if there is an existing law(s) that make it illegal for any adult to reveal/discuss abortion information with a child of a woman who has had abortions. I am familiar with HIPAA laws and what constitutes a HIPAA violation and it is obvious that a woman can sue someone who is guilty of gaining information via a HIPAA violation.</p>

<p>It is unclear to me however that in a scenario in which a woman, or the husband of that woman, was to pass on the woman's abortion information to a neighbor/teacher/friend/relative/etc. in causal conversation, and then sometime in the future this person reveals this information to the woman's child, can the woman sue this person for causing her child's emotional distress?</p>

<p>Revealing such information <strong>might</strong> be an example of an Invasion of Privacy tort, specifically &quot;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_laws_of_the_United_States#Public_disclosure" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Disclosure of Private Facts</a>&quot;. Not all US states recognize this tort.
The Findlaw page on &quot;<a href="https://injury.findlaw.com/torts-and-personal-injuries/what-is-invasion-of-privacy-.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">What is Invasion of privacy</a>&quot; says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Public disclosure of private facts laws protect your right to keep the details of your private life from becoming public information. For example, publicizing facts about a person's health, sexual conduct, or financial troubles is likely an invasion of privacy. While state laws vary, the general elements of this tort are as follows:</p>
<p>1.The defendant publicized a matter regarding the private life of the plaintiff;</p>
<p>2.The publicized matter would be highly offensive to a reasonable person; and</p>
<p>3.It is not of a legitimate concern to the public.</p>
<p>To publicize a private matter, laws generally require that the private information is disseminated in such a way that it is substantially certain to become public knowledge</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A linked sub-page of the above says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Generally, disclosure to one or two people does not constitute a public disclosure unless there is an implication that the information should be spread around.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Digital Media law Project's page on &quot;<a href="http://www.dmlp.org/legal-guide/publication-private-facts" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Publication of Private Facts</a>&quot; says much the same thing. The 1976 law review article <a href="https://scholarship.law.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2503&amp;context=lawreview" rel="nofollow noreferrer">&quot;The First Amendment Privilege and Public
Disclosure of Private Facts&quot; by Samuel Soopper</a> Discusses this tort in some detail, although it mostly focuses on publications by the news media where first amendment issues are in play.</p>
<p>It seems as if such a tort case might be hard to bring because of the small number of people to whom the fact was disclosed. A claim for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intentional_infliction_of_emotional_distress" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress</a> <strong>might</strong> fit such a situation, but this would depend on the specific facts of the case, and again, on the state where the issue would be tried.</p>
<p>In any case, this would not be a <strong>criminal</strong> action, and a lawyer would have to be consulted to better determine if a civil action could be pursued.</p>
