[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 13, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 42053-42055]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15138]


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  Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 133 / Wednesday, July 13, 2022 / 
Presidential Documents  

[[Page 42053]]


                Executive Order 14076 of July 8, 2022

                
Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare 
                Services

                By the authority vested in me as President by the 
                Constitution and the laws of the United States of 
                America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Policy. Nearly 50 years ago, Roe v. Wade, 
                410 U.S. 113 (1973), articulated the United States 
                Constitution's protection of women's fundamental right 
                to make reproductive healthcare decisions. These deeply 
                private decisions should not be subject to government 
                interference. Yet today, fundamental rights--to 
                privacy, autonomy, freedom, and equality--have been 
                denied to millions of women across the country.

                Eliminating the right recognized in Roe has already had 
                and will continue to have devastating implications for 
                women's health and public health more broadly. Access 
                to reproductive healthcare services is now threatened 
                for millions of Americans, and especially for those who 
                live in States that are banning or severely restricting 
                abortion care. Women's health clinics are being forced 
                to close--including clinics that offer other preventive 
                healthcare services such as contraception--leaving many 
                communities without access to critical reproductive 
                healthcare services. Women seeking abortion care--
                especially those in low-income, rural, and other 
                underserved communities--now have to travel to 
                jurisdictions where services remain legal 
                notwithstanding the cost or risks.

                In the face of this health crisis, the Federal 
                Government is taking action to protect healthcare 
                service delivery and promote access to critical 
                reproductive healthcare services, including abortion. 
                It remains the policy of my Administration to support 
                women's right to choose and to protect and defend 
                reproductive rights. Doing so is essential to justice, 
                equality, and our health, safety, and progress as a 
                Nation.

                Sec. 2. Definitions. (a) The term ``agency'' means any 
                authority of the United States that is an ``agency'' 
                under 44 U.S.C. 3502(1), other than one considered to 
                be an independent regulatory agency, as defined in 44 
                U.S.C. 3502(5).

                    (b) The term ``reproductive healthcare services'' 
                means medical, surgical, counseling, or referral 
                services relating to the human reproductive system, 
                including services relating to pregnancy or the 
                termination of a pregnancy.

                Sec. 3. Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare 
                Services. (a) Within 30 days of the date of this order, 
                the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit 
                a report to the President:

(i) identifying potential actions:

  (A) to protect and expand access to abortion care, including medication 
abortion; and

  (B) to otherwise protect and expand access to the full range of 
reproductive healthcare services, including actions to enhance family 
planning services such as access to emergency contraception;

(ii) identifying ways to increase outreach and education about access to 
reproductive healthcare services, including by launching a public awareness 
initiative to provide timely and accurate information about such access, 
which shall:

  (A) share information about how to obtain free or reduced cost 
reproductive healthcare services through Health Resources and Services 
Administration-Funded Health Centers, Title X clinics, and other providers; 
and

[[Page 42054]]

  (B) include promoting awareness of and access to the full range of 
contraceptive services, as well as know-your-rights information for those 
seeking or providing reproductive healthcare services; and

(iii) identifying steps to ensure that all patients--including pregnant 
women and those experiencing pregnancy loss, such as miscarriages and 
ectopic pregnancies--receive the full protections for emergency medical 
care afforded under the law, including by considering updates to current 
guidance on obligations specific to emergency conditions and stabilizing 
care under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, 42 U.S.C. 1395dd, 
and providing data from the Department of Health and Human Services 
concerning implementation of these efforts.

                    (b) To promote access to reproductive healthcare 
                services, the Attorney General and the Counsel to the 
                President shall convene a meeting of private pro bono 
                attorneys, bar associations, and public interest 
                organizations in order to encourage lawyers to 
                represent and assist patients, providers, and third 
                parties lawfully seeking these services throughout the 
                country.

                Sec. 4. Protecting Privacy, Safety, and Security. (a) 
                To address potential heightened safety and security 
                risks related to the provision of reproductive 
                healthcare services, the Attorney General and the 
                Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider actions, 
                as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to 
                ensure the safety of patients, providers, and third 
                parties, and to protect the security of clinics 
                (including mobile clinics), pharmacies, and other 
                entities providing, dispensing, or delivering 
                reproductive and related healthcare services.

                    (b) To address the potential threat to patient 
                privacy caused by the transfer and sale of sensitive 
                health-related data and by digital surveillance related 
                to reproductive healthcare services, and to protect 
                people seeking reproductive health services from 
                fraudulent schemes or deceptive practices:

(i) The Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is encouraged to 
consider actions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law 
(including the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.), to 
protect consumers' privacy when seeking information about and provision of 
reproductive healthcare services.

(ii) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall consider actions, 
including providing guidance under the Health Insurance Portability and 
Accountability Act, Public Law 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936 (1996) as amended by 
Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115 (2009), and any other statutes as 
appropriate, to strengthen the protection of sensitive information related 
to reproductive healthcare services and bolster patient-provider 
confidentiality.

(iii) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, in consultation 
with the Attorney General, consider actions to educate consumers on how 
best to protect their health privacy and limit the collection and sharing 
of their sensitive health-related information.

(iv) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, in consultation with 
the Attorney General and the Chair of the FTC, consider options to address 
deceptive or fraudulent practices related to reproductive healthcare 
services, including online, and to protect access to accurate information.

                Sec. 5. Coordinating Implementation Efforts. (a) The 
                Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director 
                of the Gender Policy Council shall establish and co-
                chair an Interagency Task Force on Reproductive 
                Healthcare Access (Task Force). Additional members 
                shall include the Attorney General and the heads of 
                other agencies as determined by the Secretary of Health 
                and Human Services and the Director of the Gender 
                Policy Council. The Task Force shall work to identify 
                and coordinate activities to protect and strengthen 
                access to essential reproductive healthcare services. 
                In addition, the Task Force shall coordinate Federal 
                interagency policymaking, program development, and 
                outreach efforts to address barriers that individuals 
                and entities may face in seeking and providing 
                reproductive healthcare services.

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                The Department of Health and Human Services shall 
                provide funding and administrative support as may be 
                necessary for the performance and functions of the Task 
                Force.

                    (b) The Attorney General shall provide technical 
                assistance, as appropriate and consistent with 
                applicable law, concerning Federal constitutional 
                protections to States seeking to afford legal 
                protection to out-of-State patients and providers who 
                offer legal reproductive healthcare.

                Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order 
                shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or 
the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (b) This order shall be implemented consistent with 
                applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.
                    (c) This order is not intended to, and does not, 
                create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, 
                enforceable at law or in equity by any party against 
                the United States, its departments, agencies, or 
                entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any 
                other person.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    July 8, 2022.

[FR Doc. 2022-15138
Filed 7-12-22; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P