Biden administration proposes stronger privacy protections for abortion seekers and providers.

The Biden administration has proposed new health privacy protections to prevent protected health information from being used to investigate or sue people who facilitate abortions. The changes would bolster reproductive health care privacy and strengthen existing privacy rule protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. The proposed rule would continue to allow a regulated entity such as a health insurance company or provider to use or disclose protected health information "for permissible purposes" under the privacy rule, but not when its primary purpose is to investigate or impose liability on any person for seeking or facilitating lawful reproductive care.