MT Attorney General opposes increased privacy protections for reproductive health care
A coalition of Republican attorneys general, including Montana’s, are pushing the Biden administration to drop a proposal intended to insulate reproductive health care information from criminal investigations related to abortion bans.
The June 16 letter, signed by the top prosecutors in 18 states, argues that states with restrictions on the procedure should be able to obtain that information in certain cases, including if a patient crossed state lines to have an abortion. It urges President Joe Biden’s administration to abandon a proposed rule that would prohibit disclosure of “reproductive health care” information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, often referred to by its acronym HIPAA.
[…]
But Quinn Leighton, director of external affairs for Planned Parenthood of Montana, said Knudsen’s letter raises concerns that Montana providers could be open to prosecution if they care for patients who can’t legally get the procedures performed in their home states.
“We’re in strong support of tightening protections within HIPAA for patients and providers, given everything that’s happening, has happened over the last year in terms of the loss of federal protections for abortion rights,” Leighton said in an interview Friday.
The attorneys general’s letter references providers licensed in multiple states, arguing that state governments “have an interest in monitoring the conduct of medical personnel who are licensed under their laws but act out of state.”
Leighton suggested that could expose Montana-based providers to investigation by other states with abortion bans.
“They could potentially look at the records of providers if a provider was, say, licensed in Idaho and Montana,” they said. “Now that it’s banned in Idaho they would want to come to Montana and provide care.”