HIPAA: Can the Privacy Rule Save the Patient-Physician Relationship in a Post-Dobbs World?

With the repealing of Roe v. Wade and the elimination of abortion as a constitutionally guaranteed right, new statutes have been passed all throughout the United States prohibiting abortions, with some states encouraging private citizens to report those who “aid and abet” abortions in the state. These statutes come into direct conflict with medical ethical obligations, which, in turn, damage the patient-physician relationship by instilling in patients a fear that their physician will report their friends and family and bring a lawsuit under those statutes. This Note analyzes the effects of the repealing of Roe v. Wade and considers how the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), specifically the Privacy Rule, maintains the patient-physician relationship and allows patients to be candid with their health-care providers without fear that their physician will voluntarily disclose information and bring a lawsuit against them or their friends and family. This Note also briefly considers what expansions of HIPAA or privacy laws in the United States may help garner more protections for those seeking abortions, such as the passing of policies within private health-care organizations to ensure such information is classified as Protected Health Information (PHI) and thus protected under HIPAA.