Administration of Joseph R. Biden, Jr., 2024

April 22, 2024

Today my administration is strengthening privacy protections under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act as part of our efforts to help protect access to reproductive health care. No one should have their medical records used against them, their doctor, or their loved one just because they sought or received lawful reproductive health care.

Privacy and confidentiality have always been essential to high-quality health care. But today's rule comes at a time when access to reproductive health care is under attack following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn *Roe *v. *Wade*. In addition to being forced to travel hundreds of miles for care or having their fertility services interrupted because of Republican officials' extreme out-of-touch agenda, women and their families live in fear that their deeply personal medical information will be disclosed, simply because of the type of care they needed.

The new protections that my administration is putting in place are an important step forward in our fight to protect access to reproductive health care and ensure patient privacy and peace of mind. By safeguarding patient information, the new rule will help health care providers give complete and accurate information to patients and improve the quality of health care.

Vice President Harris and I will continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of *Roe *v. *Wade *in Federal law, and my administration will keep taking action to protect patients and ensure access to high-quality health care.

Categories: Statements by the President : Reproductive health care privacy, Department of Health and Human Services final rule.

Names: Harris, Kamala D.

Subjects: Privacy rights; Reproductive health care; U.S. Supreme Court opinion overturning 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade; Vice President.

DCPD Number: DCPD202400327.

1