Cameron wants Kentuckians' out-of-state abortion records to be available to authorities

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron signed onto a letter last month opposing a proposed federal privacy rule that would block state officials from obtaining information on residents' reproductive health care services obtained outside the state.

Cameron was one of 19 Republican attorneys general who signed onto the June 16 letter, opposing the change proposed in April by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to amend HIPAA patient privacy rules.

The rule change would block state authorities from obtaining protected information about reproductive health care services obtained lawfully out of state "for criminal, civil, or administrative investigations or proceedings" against those individuals or regulated entities.

Such protected patient information on reproductive health care services would include, but not be limited to, those related to pregnancy, contraception, fertility, prenatal care, miscarriage management and abortion.

In the proposed rule change, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra wrote that after the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision — which allowed many states like Kentucky to ban most abortions — the department has heard concerns about "instituted or threatened" investigations of health care information in states where abortion remains legal, saying that "is likely to chill individuals' willingness to seek lawful treatment or to provide full information to their health care providers when obtaining that treatment."

However, the letter of Republican attorneys general that Cameron signed onto in June accuses the Biden administration of seeking to "wrest control over abortion back from the people in defiance of the Constitution and Dobbs," based on "a false narrative that States are seeking to treat pregnant women as criminals or punish medical personnel who provide lifesaving care."

The letter, led by Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch, argues the rule change would upset the balance of safeguarding patient privacy with "permitting disclosure of information to state authorities to protect public health, safety, and welfare," along with unlawfully interfering with states’ authority to enforce their laws.

Fitch and the GOP attorneys general also wrote that the broad definition of reproductive health care in the rule change may allow the Biden administration "to advance radical transgender-policy goals" and "obstruct state laws concerning experimental gender-transition procedures for minors (such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgical interventions).”

Kentucky and 19 other states have passed laws banning gender-affirming care for minors. The new ban on hormone treatments and puberty blockers in Kentucky was temporarily stopped by an injunction last month, but it went into effect last week when that injunction was stayed, pending a ruling on an appeal at the 6th Circuit.

Announcing his signing of the letter in a June press release, Cameron said the new rule "could incentivize healthcare providers to break state laws on everything from protecting unborn life to gender-altering surgeries."

“The Biden Administration’s repeated attempts to seize power from the people and their elected representatives defies the Constitution and must be met with strength," Cameron said. "I am proud to defend Kentuckians’ right to govern themselves without unlawful interference from the federal government.”

Kentucky is one of 16 states that now have a near-total ban on abortion since the Dobbs decision. The state has no law or regulation in place preventing residents from obtaining reproductive health care services in others states, including abortion.

Asked if Cameron's office has sought or requested information on Kentuckians' reproductive health care from other states since the Dobbs decision last summer, his spokespersons did not immediately reply with an answer.

Democratic attorneys general, ACLU of Kentucky support rule change

Also in June, all 23 Democratic state attorneys general signed onto a letter in support of the proposed HHS patient privacy protections, saying the Dobbs decision "has created a climate of uncertainty and fear in the provision of reproductive health care throughout the country."

They added that "rapid technological advances have transformed how health care providers and individuals collect and store their personal health information, including reproductive health data," while existing privacy protections "have not kept up with these changes and fail to contemplate circumstances in which basic health care is subject to civil liability and criminal penalties."

"The Department’s proposed modifications would help to ensure that private health information is not used against people for seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating lawful reproductive health care, and would give individuals confidence that their protected health information (“PHI”) will be kept private," says the letter, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

The Democrats' letter also calls on the HHS to clarify that the privacy protections would include information on gender-affirming care.

Angela Cooper, the spokeswoman for the ACLU of Kentucky, also issued a statement Monday calling Cameron's decision to sign on to the opposition letter "another in a long line of actions indicating Daniel Cameron's unwillingness to stay out of Kentuckians' private medical decisions."

"This instance is particularly galling, since Kentuckians voted down a measure in 2022 that would have added anti-choice language to the commonwealth’s constitution, sending a clear message to lawmakers: Kentucky needs comprehensive reproductive healthcare," Cooper said. "The government has no place inserting themselves between families and their doctors, whether the issue is reproductive care or medically necessary care for transgender youth."

More: Abortion rights groups drop suit challenging Kentucky's ban but continue legal fight

Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Cameron opposes HHS privacy rule on out-of-state abortion records