Who is being affected?
Government
The two main federal agencies that are involved in regulating reproductive health information privacy are the Department of Health and Human Services and the Federal Trade Commission.
Businesses
Both traditional health organizations and other kinds of businesses that maintain health information need to be aware of regulations. Unfortunately, in the post-Roe world, privacy concerns are increasing citizen mistrust of both health organizations (Boodman, 2022) and mobile application providers (Cao et al., 2024).
Citizens
As the 2000 Privacy Rule notes, the flow of quality information between a patient and a healthcare provider relies on trust that this information exchange will not compromise the patient's privacy. Although the overturn of Roe v. Wade does not introduce new flaws in the systems that keep health information secure, it does increase the stakes of health information security concerns and heightens citizen anxieties. As 88 FR 23506 points out, this can jeopardize individual health outcomes:
If individuals do not trust that their health care providers will keep their sensitive information private...Some individuals may refrain from or defer obtaining necessary health care, which could lead to worse health outcomes and exacerbate health disparities...Similarly, health care providers may omit information...when preparing medical records, out of fear that the individual's PHI is likely to be disclosed without the individual's or the health care provider's knowledge... In so doing, they increase the risk that the individual will receive substandard ongoing or future health care. (88 FR 23506 HIPAA Privacy Rule To Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy, 2023)
Understanding the political landscape and the realistic concerns regarding reproductive health information security is one important step towards addressing these concerns.
