Nineteen Republican attorneys general are asking the Biden administration to withdraw a proposed change to medical privacy laws that would ban doctors from reporting suspected abortions to law enforcement. The attorneys general argue the change would interfere with states’ authority to enforce their own abortion laws. They claim the administration is pushing a false narrative that states are treating pregnant women as criminals. The proposed rule would prevent states from investigating people who help others obtain abortions. The Republican attorneys general threaten to sue the administration if it moves forward with the proposed HIPAA rule change.
There are several situations in which HIPAA allows doctors to disclose your protected health information without your consent. One of the exceptions involves law enforcement. Democrats are trying to close that loophole, at least for enforcement of out of state abortion laws.
Self harm falls into the “mandated reporting” category, one of the few things that is not only unprotected but actually must be reported.