The Department of Health and Human Services is proposing a rule barring doctors, hospital and health insurance plans from disclosing if a woman has had a legal abortion to criminal investigators, a move aimed at preempting attempts from GOP state legislatures to restrict out-of-state abortions.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra are set to unveil the proposed rule at a meeting of an administration task force dedicated to protecting abortion rights on Wednesday afternoon.
The proposal, which comes from the HHS civil rights office, would strengthen existing protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, better known as HIPAA. The rule would block attempts to find out information about legal reproductive health care, including abortions, in order to investigate, sue or prosecute an individual.
The idea comes as GOP state legislators plot measures to block residents from traveling out-of-state to seek abortions. Idaho Gov. Brad Little (R) signed a law earlier this month making it a felony to help a minor receive an abortion out-of-state without parental permission.
The HHS rule, in theory, would make investigations into such abortions far more difficult.
“Protecting individual health information has taken on a critical importance following the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,” an administration official told reporters on a conference call on Tuesday previewing the announcement. The HHS civil rights office “has heard from patients and providers, major medical organizations and others representing patients nationwide. They’re scared. They are concerned about their medical information being misused and disclosed.”
The announcement also continues Harris’ role as a leading messenger on abortion rights for the administration. (President Joe Biden is traveling in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland this week.)
The proposal comes just a few days after a federal judge in Texas ruled the Food and Drug Administration’s decades-old approval of mifepristone, a widely used abortion drug, was illegal. The Justice Department immediately appealed the decision, which has been widely criticized by Democrats and amid GOP silence.
A separate, conflicting ruling from a federal judge in Washington state requiring the FDA to keep the drug on the market in more than a dozen states could speed the issue to the Supreme Court’s conservative majority.
Some Democrats have pressured the Biden administration to ignore the judge’s ruling, but both the White House and HHS have said ignoring a court order would set a dangerous precedent. Harris and Becerra are likely to address the order at Wednesday’s meeting.
“If Friday’s preliminary injunction stands, it will put women’s health at risk and undermine the FDA’s ability to keep safe and effective medications available to those who need them,” an administration official said. “It poses an existential threat to the FDA.”
The Department of Education is also sending guidance to over 20,000 school officials reminding them to protect student privacy, including health records. The Federal Communications Commission is also launching a guide for how consumers can protect health information stored on their mobile phones.