On April 22, the Biden-Harris administration announced a Final Rule entitled, “HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy,” which will prohibit the disclosure of protected health information (PHI) related to so-called “lawful reproductive health care in certain circumstances.”
Pro-life groups, including Florida Right to Life, are warning that the new rule will specifically protect abortion businesses and abortionists who deliberately interfere with state laws aimed at protecting the lives of preborn children from abortion.
“The Biden administration is attempting to use a new interpretation of the decades-old Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) to shield the abortion industry,” Florida Right to Life said in an email. “HIPAA requires the development of national standards to prevent protected health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent. In certain circumstances, the HIPAA Privacy Rule permits covered entities to disclose health information without patient authorization. These include exemptions for law enforcement purposes, abuse, threats to health or safety, and for data collection.”
Under the new rule, abortionists in pro-abortion states will not have to provide information to a court or law enforcement of another state that is investigating a potential violation of law. This would include any case in which a woman who lives in a pro-life state is coerced or forced by her abuser to get an abortion in a pro-abortion state. Her home state would be prevented from properly conducting an investigation into the matter. In addition, pro-life states would have less power to investigate out-of-state individuals who may be illegally distributing abortion drugs by mail into the state.
The administration had warned in early 2023 that it would be preparing to expand HIPAA under the false idea that access to abortion is a civil right. At least 18 attorneys general immediately demanded that the Biden administration refrain from implementing the new rule. In a letter signed by the attorneys general, they explained, “The administration has sought to wrest control over abortion back from the people in defiance of the Constitution and Dobbs. The proposed rule… would unlawfully interfere with States’ authority to enforce their laws, and does not serve any legitimate need.”
In a previous statement, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said, “In a shameless attempt to play politics, the Biden administration wants to change the rules in a way that would hinder law enforcement’s ability to gather information about crimes against women. There is no mechanism under state law to prosecute women for having an abortion. Georgia is not trying to – and does not – punish pregnant women. We are trying to stop dangerous traffickers, rapists, predators and abusers, but this rule change will make it harder to hold such criminals accountable.”
READ: NY Gov. Hochul calls pro-lifers ‘Neanderthals’ while signing legislation to protect abortionists
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will enforce the Privacy Rule. According to HHS, the Final Rule will prohibit the use or disclosure of PHI “when it is sought to investigate or impose liability on individuals, health care providers, or others who seek, obtain, provide, or facilitate reproductive health care that is lawful under the circumstances in which such health care is provided, or to identify persons for such activities.” It also “[r]equires a regulated health care provider, health plan, clearinghouse, or their business associates, to obtain a signed attestation that certain requests for PHI potentially related to reproductive health care are not for these prohibited purposes” and requires that health care providers, health plans, and clearinghouses modify their Notice of Privacy Practices to support reproductive health care privacy.
“The new protections that my Administration is putting in place are an important step forward in our fight to protect access to reproductive health care and ensure patient privacy and peace of mind,” said Biden in a statement. “By safeguarding patient information, the new rule will help health care providers give complete and accurate information to patients and improve the quality of health care.”
He added that he and Vice President Harris will “continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law.” Roe allowed abortion through all 40 weeks of pregnancy thanks to its sister decision, Doe v. Bolton, which allowed abortion for any “health” reason, including financial or familial — an extremely broad loophole essentially allowing the intentional killing of a preborn child at any point for any reason.
