The Biden administration has been working quietly on another new pro-abortion regulation, one that could thwart state authorities’ ability to investigate abortionists who kill unborn babies in violation of their pro-life laws.
According to Bloomberg Law, the proposed regulation has not been publicized yet, but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights indicates it has to do with HIPAA patient privacy law.
The department portrays the proposed rule change as an effort to protect the privacy of women seeking abortions, but really it could interfere with state authorities’ ability to protect unborn babies and mothers from abortionists who break the law.
The proposal appears to be an attempt “to twist HIPAA to use it as a bludgeon against the Dobbs decision and interfere with cooperation with law enforcement,” Roger Severino, who led the HHS Office of Civil Rights under the Trump administration, told Bloomberg. It also could “scare medical providers from cooperating with police in states where abortion is restricted,” he continued.
Severino, of the Heritage Foundation, said the Biden administration did not disclose the pro-abortion proposal until now, which is unusual and probably deliberately done to avoid controversy.
As of yet, HHS has not published the proposed rule change, and department officials refused to disclose details about it to Bloomberg. Before a new regulation can be implemented, the federal government must release it to the public and then receive and respond to public comment for a period of time.
Potentially, the rule would mirror pro-abortion guidelines that HHS released last year for hospitals and doctors, making them an official regulation instead of just guidance, according to the report.
SUPPORT LIFENEWS! To help us stand against Joe Biden’s abortion agenda, please help LifeNews.com with a donation!
Here’s more:
The guidance explains that hospitals and employees suspecting a patient had an abortion cannot simply provide their health information to law enforcement without violating HIPAA, a crucial distinction as state restrictions are bewildering medical employees. It also explains that health providers cannot hand over information like abortion records when requested by law enforcement without a court order or a mandate equally enforceable. …
“I suspect what they’re trying to do is say that in pro-life states that cooperating with law enforcement to protect unborn life is a violation of HIPAA,” Severino said. He added that HIPAA defers to state law definitions for things like paternity and guardianship, and that certain states define unborn persons as persons.
State laws that ban or limit abortions penalize abortionists who kill unborn babies in violation of the law. They do not punish mothers, who often are second victims of the profit-driven, manipulative abortion industry. The pro-life movement has made it very clear that pro-lifers oppose punishing mothers.
However, the Biden administration and abortion activists continue to spout lies about pro-life laws and efforts.
President Joe Biden and his team have been working aggressively to expand killing unborn babies in abortions since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June.
According to Bloomberg, the Democrat leader also wants to weaken religious freedom protections for pro-life doctors and nurses by changing “a Trump-era rule that observers say would make it more difficult for providers to decline offering abortions due to religious objections.”
Recently, Biden ended long-standing safety requirements for abortion drugs and began allowing pharmacies to sell them. His administration also wants to force VA hospitals to do abortions even in states where killing unborn babies is illegal and wants to force taxpayers to fund abortion travel for military members and their families who live in pro-life states.
For nearly 50 years under Roe, abortions destroyed more than 64 million unborn babies in abortions. Only now that Roe has been overturned may states again protect the right to life for all human beings, born and unborn.
New polls show growing public support for legal protections for unborn babies. A Marist College poll found 69 percent of Americans support limiting or banning abortions, up from 62 percent in June. Another new poll from UMass Amherst found a 5-percent drop in those who say Congress should pass a law to make abortions legal nation-wide and a 6-percent increase in support for a national abortion ban, WCVB News reports.
