AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – Texas has sued the Biden administration to try to block a federal rule that would Medical records of women from criminal investigations when they cross national borders to abortion where it is legal.
The lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health aims to overturn a regulation passed in April. In the lawsuit filed in Lubbock on Wednesday, the Republican Attorney General is demanding Ken Paxton accused the federal government of trying to “undermine” the state’s law enforcement capabilities. It appears to be the first legal challenge to a state with an abortion ban that took effect after the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling that Roe v. Wade overturned and ended the federal right to abortion.
The rule essentially prohibits state or local officials from collecting medical records related to reproductive health care for a civil, criminal, or administrative investigation of providers or health insurers in a state where abortion is still legal. It is designed to protect women living in states where 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 a woman’s medical record is not used against her, her doctor, or her loved ones simply because she received the lawful reproductive care she needed,” the agency said.
Texas’ abortion ban, like other states, provides that women seeking an abortion cannot be prosecuted. The ban can be enforced either through a private civil suit or under the state’s criminal laws. Anyone found responsible for helping a woman obtain an abortion can be punished with up to life in prison.
It is not clear whether public agencies have requested patient records related to abortions. However, the state has requested records related to gender-affirming care. demands it from at least two out-of-state health centers in the last year. Like many Republican-controlled states, Texas prohibits gender reassignment surgery for minors.
At least 22 Democratic-controlled states have laws or executive orders aimed at protecting medical personnel or patients who participate in abortions from law enforcement investigations in states with bans.
The federal regulation in question is an update of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, which prohibits medical providers and health insurers from disclosing medical information about patients. However, law enforcement agencies can usually access these records for investigations.
A group of Republican attorneys general, all from states with strict abortion laws, had urged the Department of Health and Human Services to drop the rule when a draft was released last year. In a 2023 letter to the Department of Health and Human Services, the group said the rule would unlawfully impinge on states’ authority to enforce laws.
“With this rule, the Biden administration is making a backdoor attempt to weaken Texas laws by undermining state law enforcement investigations involving medical procedures,” Paxton said in a press release.
Liz McCaman Taylor, senior adviser for federal policy at the Center for Reproductive Rights, said federal law has long provided enhanced protections for sensitive health information.
“But Texas is suing now not because it is concerned about its sovereignty, but because it is hostile to reproductive health,” she said.
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Associated Press reporter Jamie Stengle reported from Dallas.
