Last week, Attorney General Kris Mayes joined 23 states and Washington, D.C., in a letter supporting stronger protections for patients’ reproductive health information.
According to a press release from the Attorney General’s Office, the Biden administration is considering adding amendments to the HIPAA privacy rule.
The changes would make it illegal to share a patient's protected health information if it is being sought for certain criminal, civil and administrative investigations against a patient who received a legal abortion.
It would also cover other reproductive care that is protected under federal law regardless of a person’s state.
In a statement, Mayes said, "In a post-Roe world, strong protections for patients' health information are critical to ensuring private medical data is not misused or weaponized by anti-abortion extremists."
The group of states signed the letter supporting the proposed amendments, and say the guardrails would help protect reproductive health information.
