President Biden Issues Executive Order on Protecting Access to Reproductive Health Care
- July 08, 2022
President Biden issued July 8 an executive order aimed at protecting access to reproductive health care services in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision two weeks ago overturning Roe v. Wade.
At the same time, the White House, in a fact sheet, also emphasized Biden’s position “that the only way to secure a woman’s right to choose is for Congress to restore the protections of Roe as federal law.”
The executive order seeks to safeguard access to reproductive health care, boost privacy protections, and help patients pursue their legal options.
Specifically, the executive order directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary to submit a report to the President within 30 days detailing efforts to protect access to medication abortions, emergency medical care, and contraceptives, the fact sheet said. HHS also must launch outreach and public education efforts on accessing reproductive health care services, including abortions.
Under the order, the Attorney General and the White House Counsel will convene a group of private pro bono lawyers, bar associations, and public interest organizations to help ensure “robust” legal representation for patients seeking reproductive health care, including those seeking to travel out of their state for an abortion.
The White House also plans to establish an interagency task force on reproductive health care access to coordinate federal policymaking.
In addition, the executive order attempts to address patient privacy concerns. The order calls on the Federal Trade Commission to consider steps to protect consumers’ privacy when seeking information about reproductive health care. According to the fact sheet, HHS also should consider additional actions, including under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), to prevent disclosure of reproductive health information.
The HHS Office for Civil Rights last week issued new guidance to help patients, as well as health care providers, understand federal privacy protections for reproductive health information.
Two Senate lawmakers this week called on HHS to take further steps under the HIPAA Privacy Rule to prevent providers and insurers from sharing reproductive health information with law enforcement.
“For patients living in states criminalizing reproductive health services, the Privacy Rule does not offer enough protection and jeopardizes the patient-provider relationship,” according to a July 1 letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, which was signed by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).
The lawmakers urged HHS to begin updating the Privacy Rule “to clarify who is a covered entity and to limit when that entity can share information on abortion or other reproductive health services.” HHS also should make clear that reproductive health information “cannot be shared with law enforcement agencies who target individuals who have an abortion,” the letter said.