Roger Severino, former HHS civil rights executive under former President Donald Trump and now vice president of domestic policy at The Heritage Foundation, said legal challenges were “absolutely” possible. “At the very least, I imagine there will be objections from state attorneys general, because they are interfering with the government’s ability to enforce its own laws.”
Meanwhile, dozens of senior Democrats in the House and Senate say the draft rule is inappropriate for the post.egg In this environment, Republican-controlled states are seeking to more aggressively target abortion providers and those who bypass state regulations to help patients.
Attacks from both sides highlight the precarious path the Biden administration is embarking on since the Supreme Court ruling was overturned. Law vs Wade last summer. With no hope of restoring abortion protections through legislation in a divided Congress, the White House has relied primarily on rulemaking and executive orders, many of which have drawn criticism from progressives and the right.
The White House has refused to respond to criticism of the proposed rule. An HHS spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
The proposed HIPAA expansion is one of the most concrete steps the administration has taken since late 2016 to defend abortion rights. egg. If enacted, the bill would bar health care providers and insurance companies from turning over information to state authorities for the purpose of investigating or prosecuting those who seek or provide legal abortions. . This will allow more support both for those who cross state lines for abortion procedures and for those who are subject to exceptions to the abortion ban in their state of origin, such as in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment. A lot of protection will be provided.
HHS proposed the rule in April and opened it for public comment until mid-June. Republican officials and conservative advocacy groups say. policy draft goes too far and violates state abortion bans, while nearly 50 Democrats in Congress say it’s not enough and are pressuring the administration to add additional measures before issuing a final rule.
of Letter to Health Secretary Xavier Becerra It was first shared with Senator-led Democrat POLITICO. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Pattie Murray The (Washington Democrat) has made several demands, including requiring the government to “obtain a warrant before coercing a doctor, pharmacist, or other health care provider to surrender a patient.” It is carried out. [protected health information]”
For now, the proposed rule would only require state officials seeking this information to obtain a subpoena, administrative request, or other type of court order, a low hurdle to clear. And rather than limit the extension of protection to reproductive health care, as the current proposed rule does, the senators said, “HHS will extend this protection across the board, regardless of illness, disease, or medical problem.” should be applied to,” he argues.
One participant, a member of the Diet. Jasmine Crockett (Democrat, Texas) told POLITICO after Monday night’s abortion rights roundtable that stronger rules would be needed to stop “rogue attorneys general” from pursuing personal health records. said it was necessary.
“Under no circumstances should there be an executive order specifying that this should not be allowed unless someone relinquishes access to the document,” she said. “They just think that if someone has an abortion or has an abortion, it’s someone else’s business. [gender] transition. So we have to suppress this. Because if you manage the wrong people, one day they might try to get Viagra and all the records. ”
But Severino and other conservatives argue that the proposed rule already exceeds federal authority and violates both the Administrative Procedure Act and the U.S. Constitution.
“If someone says ‘I’m going to kill myself’ or ‘I’m going to kill another person,’ the health care provider is allowed and may be required to disclose that information to law enforcement. ” he said. “But if there is an imminent threat to the fetus in a pro-life state, the rule would prohibit providers from disclosing that information to save its life. We are making an abortion exception to the HIPAA regime to please our constituencies.”
Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch – defended state’s 15-week abortion ban in overturned case Law vs Wade Last year — led a group of 19 Republican Attorneys General, public comment The group repeatedly called the rule “illegal” and accused the Biden administration of “defying the constitution and trying to wrest control of abortion back from the people.”
Fitch’s office declined to say whether it was considering her own legal challenges, but her letter alleges that the rule runs counter to core Supreme Court precedent. Dobbs — States have the right to enact and enforce their own abortion laws, including the right to seize data from and prosecute doctors suspected of violating abortion laws.
“Why state officials believe that an abortion provider intentionally performed an abortion in violation of state law, seriously injuring a woman, and then falsified medical records and referred her to an out-of-state medical facility. Suppose there was a provider asked to cover it up,” the attorney general wrote. “State officials would clearly have grounds to investigate the provider.”
The Democratic Attorneys General of 23 states and D.C., along with Blue Cross Blue Shield and other health insurance companies, the Unitarian Almighty Church and other faith groups, the American Pharmacists Association and other medical groups, and local government officials: Submitted comments in support of this proposed rule. From Los Angeles, Cleveland and other cities.
The conservative groups Concerned Women for America, the Catholic Medical Association, the March for Life, and the American Association of Professional-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists (who are currently suing the FDA for approval of the abortion drug mifepristone). 1) was also one of the groups that opposed it.
