Biden Administration Prioritizes Patient Privacy and Access to Abortion Services.

The Biden administration is proposing a rule to close a loophole in medical privacy laws that allows healthcare workers to report patients to the police if they suspect them of self-managing an abortion. The proposed rule would add language to HIPAA to ban healthcare workers and insurance companies from sharing health information that would be “used to identify, investigate, sue, or prosecute someone for seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating lawful reproductive health care.” The move comes amid a push from advocates and after reporting from Jezebel and others explained the dangers of the privacy loophole and the chilling effect it can have on health care in a post Roe v. Wade America.