The Biden admin is updating HIPAA, the nation’s main health privacy law, to offer stronger legal protections to people who get abortions in their state or who cross state lines for the procedure, as well as their doctors and loved ones.
Democratic lawmakers and abortion-rights advocates have been pleading with the Biden administration for months — beginning before Roe was overturned — to take this step. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty ImagesThe Biden administration is updating the nation’s main health privacy law to offer stronger legal protections to people who obtain abortions in their state or who cross state lines for the procedure, as well as their doctors and loved ones.
The new rule adding language to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act — commonly known as HIPAA — would cover both people who cross state lines to obtain a legal abortion or who qualify for an exception to their home state’s ban, such as in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment.
During a call with reporters on the new rule Tuesday night, a senior administration official said that while the agency released guidance whenfell last June telling doctors they do not have to comply with demands for information from law enforcement or state officials about a patient’s abortion, they have gotten feedback from health providers and advocacy groups that a clearer and more binding rule would offer better protection.
That chilling effect, the official added, is also affecting pregnant patients and causing them to avoid the medical system entirely.
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