LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The federal government is working to tighten HIPAA laws to protect the privacy of women who have to travel to get abortions.
Ahead of President Joe Biden's address on abortion access, the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary announced a new rule on Monday.
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The rule would protect patient medical records from being used against them after getting lawful reproductive care.
It would also protect the medical provider from in the state where she traveled.
The new regulation is an update to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which prohibits medical providers and health insurers from divulging medical information about patients. Typically, however, law enforcement can access those records for investigations.
Secretary Javier Becerra said this rule emphasizes patients' privacy and secures the right for women to make a choice.
"Today, Americans are living lives recognizing they – at least for women – have fewer rights today than their parents did," Becerra said. "And it is difficult sometimes to comprehend. But there is one thing Dobbs did not take away, and that is the right of Americans to their privacy."
He added if someone tried coercing that information from a patient, the federal government can take action. Women seeking fertility, contraception or miscarriage care will also be protected.
A group of 19 Republican Attorneys General, all from states with strict abortion laws, urged the Health and Human Services agency to ditch the rule when a draft was released last year. The regulation “would unlawfully interfere with states" authority to enforce their laws, and does not serve any legitimate need,” they wrote in a letter to HHS last year.
It’s not clear that public officials have sought those medical records of patients around abortion. But last year, Texas officials demanded records from at least two out-of-state health centers that provide gender-affirming care. Texas, like most other Republican-controlled states, has a ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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