Anti-abortion activists 'obtain patient details' and invite woman to fake scan

'It's grotesque, it's disgusting,' minister says, as investigation launched

The woman had an abortion at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin (Google)

Ireland's health minister has ordered an investigation after a woman's personal details were reportedly obtained by anti-abortion activists, before the information was used in a deceitful attempt to lure her to a location in north Dublin.

Simon Harris, who requested the inquiry, described the allegations as "extraordinarily concerning".

The woman at the centre of the controversy had an abortion at the National Maternity Hospital in Dublin on 28 January, according to her anonymous Facebook post.

Following the procedure she had an internal scan and was sent home, only to be contacted by a man asking her to book another scan.

"He gave me my name, my address and told me to come in on Monday," she said.

The man contacted her by phone and text message but the woman became suspicious and called the hospital.

Staff at the National Maternity Hospital told her they "didn't [know] anything" about a second scan.

When the woman contacted the man again, demanding to know who he was, he initially claimed to be from the health executive's unplanned pregnancy hotline, My Options.

He then allegedly began shouting abuse at the woman, telling her that she was "disgusting" for having an abortion.

The location of the second scan was on the northside of Dublin The Irish Examiner reported.

It remains unclear how the woman's personal details, including her phone number, were obtained by the caller.

"It scared me," she wrote on Facebook, in a post widely shared online.

The allegation prompted Simon Harris to order Ireland's Health Service Executive (HSE) to open an investigation into the alleged data breach.

“It's extraordinarily concerning and disturbing to think that any patient’s details could be leaked," the minister said.

"We have worked extremely hard as a health service and I think as a country, to try and firstly legalise the provision of termination of pregnancy in our own country.

"The idea that anybody might leake a woman's confidential information is reprehensible, it's grotesque, it's disgusting.

"And that's why I asked the HSE yesterday to investigate the matter and to report back."

The anti-abortion group, known as the Good Counsel Network, is said to have reported the details of another abortion to the Irish police at Drogheda garda station, according to The Times of Ireland.

But the Irish Guards disputed the report.

"We're not aware of any incident or complaint at Drogheda station," a spokesperson for the Irish Guards told The Independent.

The people of Ireland voted to overturn a longstanding ban on abortion in May 2018.