Digital privacy laws a point of contention for state, federal officials
Mississippi demands data on abortion-seekers, other states move to protect info
Digital privacy laws regarding reproductive healthcare have been in the news lately as some states have strengthened protections because attorney generals from other areas have sought to gather information on women who got abortions.
Today, Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed LD1619, which expanded abortion rights generally but also added protections for healthcare data. Concerns over healthcare privacy may conflict with some states’ efforts to investigate abortion as a criminal matter.
The major concern for doctors and patients is that sensitive medical information pertaining to reproductive care may be disclosed to officers in commonwealths where the procedure is illegal or severely limited. That also puts healthcare providers in a tough situation where they may have to decide whether to follow federal guidelines provided by HIPAA or those given by state law.
On April 17, employees with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed several amendments to the HIPAA law that would prohibit disclosing sensitive information to law enforcement when it deals with reproductive treatment.
States have taken different approaches to the rule. Washington State passed the first protections of digital privacy for reproductive care later in April. In Mississippi for instance, Attorney General Lynn Fitch told the Biden Administration last month that authorities there needed access to information about residents who obtain abortions or gender-affirming care in other states. Attorneys general from 18 other states attorneys general signed the letter.
“Relying as it does on a false view of state regulation of abortion, the proposed rule is a solution in search of a problem,” Fitch said. “And it reflects the same distortion of basic legal rules and democratic principles that pervaded abortion matters for decades before Dobbs.”
An earlier newsletter I wrote featured the writing and thoughts of Adam Greene, a lawyer who specializes in digital privacy. He told me that much of this will play out in the court system.
“It's a confusing mess,” Greene said. “And it's gonna be I think, many years until we see how all of this plays out in the courts. And that leaves healthcare providers in a precarious position because all this ambiguity makes it tougher for them to provide services that put their license at risk.”