Sen. Hirono Introduces SAFER Health Act to Shield Pregnancy Records From Legal Proceedings
A bill to ensure the privacy of pregnancy termination or loss information under the HIPAA privacy regulations and the HITECH Act.
This bill is currently in the early stages of the legislative process after being introduced in the Senate. It has been sent to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions for review. There are no upcoming votes scheduled at this time.
While it has several Democratic cosponsors, it faces a steep climb in a divided Congress where reproductive rights issues are highly partisan.
Doctors' offices, clinics, and health IT companies that count as 'covered entities' or 'business associates' must update their systems and practices to keep pregnancy-related records separate and compliant with the new rules. This creates new compliance costs and technical requirements, especially for smaller practices and health record software vendors.
“a health IT developer (as so described) shall implement practices that allow for the segregation of data relating to pregnancy termination or loss information to ensure compliance with subsection (a)”
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
The SAFER Health Act would require health IT developers to implement data-segregation practices, ensuring that sensitive information about abortions and miscarriages can be separated from general medical records to prevent unauthorized legal access.
Lawmakers reintroduced the SAFER Health Act to strengthen patient privacy protections under HIPAA, specifically targeting the use of reproductive health data as evidence in criminal or civil cases related to pregnancy termination or loss.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
A bill to ensure the privacy of pregnancy termination or loss information under the HIPAA privacy regulations and the HITECH Act.
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