The U.S.Justice Department says it is not pursuing its subpoena of medical records from Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania, but is leaving open the possibility of going after these records later. "We were very pleased that they're not going to pursue the subpoenas at this time," said Kim Evert, chief executive of the Pittsburgh affiliate of Planned Parenthood. "Ideally, though, we would like to see the subpoena go away completely. There is still a little concern that the subpoena is still out there, even though it is unlikely they would act upon it." Attorneys for Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania received a letter Tuesday from Justice Department attorney Peter Phipps. He said federal prosecutors won't push for the local, medical records because U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled Friday in San Francisco that the government could not have those same records from Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., the national organization. The Justice Department would contact the organization "if our position changes," Phipps wrote. In November, the Planned Parenthood Federation and its San Francisco affiliate sued the federal government in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to challenge the Partial-Birth Abortion Act. As part of the case, the Justice Department subpoenaed medical records from Planned Parenthood affiliates in Pittsburgh, Washington D.C., New York City, San Diego, Los Angeles and Kansas City, Mo. The new law says that so-called partial-birth abortions, called dilation and evacuation, never are medically necessary. Planned Parenthood, however, says they are medically necessary and that the ban would prohibit other types of abortion procedures. Evert said dilation and evacuation procedures are not done at the Pittsburgh office. A Justice Department spokeswoman could not be reached for comment yesterday. Evert said federal prosecutors also notified affiliates in San Diego, Washington D.C. and Kansas City that it will drop its attempt for medical records. Evert said Planned Parenthood could consider trying to get the subpoena quashed so that the Justice Department can not attempt to get the records later.

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