Pregnancy Justice, in coalition with other reproductive justice organizations and allies, submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in response to a proposed rule to strengthen reproductive health care privacy under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
The comments recognize that the proposed HIPAA rule is an important step in the right direction for safeguarding reproductive healthcare information. The disclosure of such information by healthcare providers to authorities leads far too often to the criminalization of pregnant and postpartum people and creates distrust between patients and providers.
The comments urge HHS to modify the proposed rule to further reduce the risk of criminalization, including by barring disclosures related to pregnancy and substance use as well as self-managed abortion.