Austin, Texas (AP) — Texas has sued the Biden administration to block a federal rule that shields the medical records of women from criminal investigations if they cross state lines to seek abortion where it is legal.
The lawsuit, filed against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), seeks to overturn a regulation finalized in April. In the suit, Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton accused the federal government of trying to “undermine” the state’s law enforcement abilities. This appears to be the first legal challenge from a state with an abortion ban that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, ending the nationwide right to abortion.
The rule prevents state or local officials from gathering medical records related to reproductive health care for civil, criminal, or administrative investigations from providers or health insurers in states where abortion is legal. Its goal is to protect women living in states where abortion is illegal.
In a statement, HHS declined to comment on the lawsuit but said the rule “stands on its own.”
“The Biden-Harris Administration remains committed to protecting reproductive health privacy and ensuring that no woman’s medical records are used against her, her doctor, or her loved one simply because she got the lawful reproductive care she needed,” the agency said.
Texas’ abortion ban exempts women seeking abortions from criminal charges. However, it enforces the ban through private civil action or under the state’s criminal statutes, with penalties of up to life in prison for anyone assisting a woman in obtaining an abortion.
It’s unclear whether public officials have sought medical records related to abortion. However, the state has previously sought records related to gender-affirming care, demanding them from at least two out-of-state health centers last year. Texas, like many Republican-controlled states, bans gender-affirming care for minors.
At least 22 Democratic-controlled states have laws or executive orders that protect medical providers or patients involved in abortion from investigations by law enforcement in states with bans.
The federal regulation is an update to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), which generally prohibits medical providers and insurers from divulging patient information. However, law enforcement can typically access these records for investigations.
A group of Republican attorneys general from states with strict abortion laws urged HHS to abandon the rule when a draft was released last year. They argued that the regulation unlawfully interferes with states’ authority to enforce their laws.
Paxton said in a news release, “With this rule, the Biden Administration makes a backdoor attempt at weakening Texas’s laws by undermining state law enforcement investigations that implicate medical procedures.”
Liz McCaman Taylor, senior federal policy counselor at the Center for Reproductive Rights, noted that federal law has long provided enhanced protection for sensitive health information. “But Texas is suing now, not because of its concern with state sovereignty, but because of its hostility to reproductive health,” she said.
