Biden Administration Proposes Stricter Patient Privacy Rules for Abortion-Seekers

The Biden administration is taking additional steps to ensure the privacy of those seeking abortions, following a federal judge’s halt on the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone.

On April 12, the White House announced new measures ahead of the third meeting of the interagency Task Force on Reproductive Health Access. These measures are considered important because state governments intend to penalize healthcare providers for providing legal reproductive healthcare, including abortion, and interfere with personal medical decisions.

One of the proposed measures is a rule from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that prohibits the disclosure of an individual’s health information to investigate, sue, or prosecute healthcare providers or their associates because they facilitated legal reproductive healthcare, including abortion.

The proposed rule would amend the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act Privacy Rule, which currently allows the release of protected health information if a covered entity believes it is evidence of a crime that occurred on its premises, or if it is necessary to inform law enforcement about the nature and location of a crime and its perpetrator.

The administration has also announced that the Department of Education will issue guidance to more than 20,000 school officials on their obligations to protect student privacy under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

In addition, the Federal Communications Commission will issue a new consumer guide for protecting personal data, including geolocation data, on cell phones, and HHS will issue guidance on how healthcare providers can protect patients’ electronic health information.

Mifepristone Approval on Hold

The administration’s renewed emphasis on patient privacy followed U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk’s injunction on April 7 that suspended the FDA’s approval of mifepristone temporarily, during a lawsuit challenging the drug’s safety and approval processes.

The FDA approved mifepristone under the brand name Mifeprex in 2000. Kacsmark noted in his order that the agency had dragged its feet for decades when it came to judicial reviews of the approval of the drug.

“Before Plaintiffs file