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 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 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."
At least 18 attorneys general immediately demanded that the Biden administration refrain from implementing the new rule.
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."
"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.
https://www.liveaction.org/news/biden-harris-administration-privacy-rule-protect-abortionists/
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