FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Doctors for America
PO Box: 21161
2300 18th St NW Lbby
Washington, DC 20009-9996
May 5, 2025
Doctors, Local Governments File Brief to Defend Reproductive Health Care Privacy Rights
Brief Argues that Upending HIPAA Privacy Rights Would Contradict Decades of Established Precedent
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Democracy Forward has filed a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of Doctors for America and the Cities of Columbus, OH, and Madison, WI in the Northern Texas District Court (Amarillo Division), along with co-counsel Public Rights Project and Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, defending the 2024 HIPAA Privacy Rule, which protects the privacy of Americans’ reproductive health care information. The brief was filed in response to the Alliance for Defending Freedom (ADF)’s attempts to upend HIPAA privacy protections and strike down the 2024 HIPAA Privacy Rule in Purl, M.D. et al. v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services et al.
HIPAA is a decades-old law that provides the foundation for medical privacy and is critical for doctor-patient trust. In 2024, the Biden administration approved a new rule to strengthen HIPAA’s privacy protections to cover reproductive healthcare and specifically protect pregnant women who travel out-of-state to seek abortions, and doctors who provide that care, from being investigated and prosecuted by state governments for their legal conduct. Texas, Missouri, and Tennessee have also filed cases to attack the 2024 rule and HIPAA privacy rights overall. The filing argues that if the 2024 rule is blocked, it could open a floodgate of harms to patients and providers nationwide.
“As physicians, our members rely on strong HIPAA protections to ensure our patients can speak openly and seek care without fear—weakening these safeguards threatens the trust at the core of every doctor-patient relationship,” said Christine Petrin, MD, MPH, President of Doctors for America.
“Local governments play a vital role in delivering essential health services, and protecting patient privacy is critical to maintaining the public’s trust,” said Jon Miller, Chief Program Officer at Public Rights Project. “Rolling back important safeguards on how patient information is used undermines that trust and negatively impacts how public health departments can respond and care for their residents.”
“HIPAA privacy rights are foundational to the trust between doctors and patients, and to the integrity of our health care system. These protections are critical regardless of the types of care a patient receives, and particularly important to patients seeking lawful reproductive health care,” said Carrie Flaxman, Senior Legal Advisor at Democracy Forward. “Blocking the rule could pave the way for dangerous government investigations into private medical records, undermining decades of established precedent and people who have obtained legal health care, and doctors who provide it, at risk. Democracy Forward is committed to representing clients in defending and expanding access to reproductive healthcare and ensuring that Americans can seek care without fear of political interference.”
Doctors for America believes that legislative and judicial interference mandates malpractice and criminalizes the practice of evidence-based medicine.
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About Doctors for America:
Doctors for America mobilizes doctors and medical students to be leaders in putting patients over politics to improve the health of our patients, communities, and nation. DFA is an organization of over 27,000 physician and medical student advocates in all 50 states, representing all areas of specialization. DFA teaches physicians and medical students advocacy skills and does advocacy at a state and federal level. Our impact areas focus on access to affordable care, community health and prevention, and health justice and equity. DFA focuses solely on what is best for our patients, not on the business side of medicine, and does not accept any funding from pharmaceutical or medical device companies, which uniquely positions DFA as the organization that puts patients over politics and patients over profits.
Find out more at doctorsforamerica.org and on Twitter drsforamerica or Bluesky drsforamerica.bsky.social.