Purl et al. v. Department of Health and Human Services

Why this Matters:

The plaintiff alleges that federal regulations providing enhanced privacy protections for medical records and other protected health care information associated with reproductive health care violate the Administrative Procedure Act. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the federal right to abortion has upended the legal landscape related to reproductive health care, and the potential disclosure of reproductive health care information to law enforcement officials could further chill women from seeking care and providers from delivering high-quality care.

Potential Impact:

Removing protections against the disclosure of private reproductive health information to law enforcement could increase exposure to criminal liability and exacerbate the hardships women and pregnant people face in accessing safe abortion health care.