The Biden administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has developed new rules to protect abortion and gender-transitioning treatments, drawing comparisons to historical efforts against school desegregation.
The controversial proposal would revise definitions under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). More than 11,000 comments have been received, but just 65 are available for public viewing.
The proposed changes, according to Rachel Morrison from the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC), could hamper states’ enforcement of abortion laws and prohibitions on gender transition drugs and surgeries for minors. Roger Severino, former HHS director of the Office for Civil Rights under Trump, called the proposal “absolutely impenetrable” and intentionally confusing.
Severino stated, “They are opening up a can of worms that will explode in a way they both can’t predict and can,” given the broad definition of “reproductive health care.” He also criticized the proposal for defying statutes like the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act and for redefining human beings pre-birth for abortion politics.
Lawmakers have voiced their concerns. More than two dozen members of Congress, including GOP Senators Ted Cruz (TX), J.D. Vance (OH), Mike Lee (UT), and Roger Marshall (KS), signed a letter to the HHS claiming that the NPRM ignores statutes that explicitly recognize the unborn child and shields “abusers instead of victims” of sex crimes by framing the illicit transportation of minors for abortions as reproductive healthcare.
Medical professionals also object to the proposal. The American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ comment states the NPRM “places physicians in an impossible position,” risking HIPAA violation accusations for reporting coerced abortions or pregnant adolescent victims of rape or incest.
The Alliance Defending Freedom says the proposal would deprive states of abortion-related data relevant to public health interests and critical evidence for sex crimes. It also alleges that the HHS has no authority to convert hospitals into “on-demand abortion clinics.”
Meanwhile, the proposal has also drawn ire from organizations such as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, and Christian Medical & Dental Associations.
