If you go out of state to procure an abortion or gender-affirming medical care, Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin wants to know about it.
Griffin joined 18 other state attorneys general last month to oppose a rule change that would keep states from being able to get hold of the medical records of their citizens who travel out of state for abortion care.
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The Biden administration asked for the rule change to protect women’s privacy should they need to access reproductive health care away from home. Advocates fear women who cross state lines in search of medical care that’s legal there but not at home might get tangled in legal troubles. The letter from Griffin and his colleagues suggest their fear is valid.
“HHS has heard from patients, providers, and organizations representing thousands of individuals that this change is needed to protect patient-provider confidentiality and prevent private medical records from being used against people for merely seeking, obtaining, providing, or facilitating lawful reproductive health care,” a Department of Health and Human Services statement said.
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Last summer’s Dobbs decision rolled back the federally protected access to abortion care that had been in place for nearly 50 years, leaving states free to do their worst. Since then, more than 20 states have functionally banned abortions, although some of those bans come with limited exceptions, and some remain gummed up in court.
The letter from Griffin and 18 of his colleagues goes beyond abortion care to target gender-affirming medical care for transgender people, too. “Any Effort To Use The Proposed Rule To Advance Radical Transgender-Policy Goals Would Be Unlawful,” a subhed of the 17-page letter proclaims. “Given its far-reaching and radical approach to transgender issues, the Administration may intend to use the proposed rule to obstruct state laws concerning experimental gender-transition procedures for minors (such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgical interventions),” the letter says.
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Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch penned the letter, and her peers in Arkansas, Alabama, Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Utah signed on.
Interestingly, Mississippi’s ban allows for abortion access in cases of rape and incest. Arkansas’s does not.
The comment period on the rule change closed June 16. The Health and Human Services Department could take suggestions into account and make edits before issuing a final version.
Even if the new rule goes into place in its current form, it’s not histrionic to worry that someone might come digging for your personal information. Remember the 2021 bounty hunter law in Texas, when the state dangled $10,000 carrots to entice citizens to rat out friends and neighbors who sought abortions?
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Keeping it close to the vest is key in Arkansas, too. Republican Reps. Richard Womack of Arkadelphia, Wayne Long of Bradford and Josh Miller of Heber Springs and Sen. Matt McKee of Pearcy sponsored a bill earlier this year to make abortion punishable as a homicide. Their bill didn’t pass, but neither did Rep. Nicole Clowney‘s (D-Fayetteville) bill to allow abortion in cases when the fetus has no chance of survival. Nor did Rep. Ashley Hudson‘s (D-Little Rock) bill that would allow abortion for child victims of incest. The only exception to Arkansas’s ban is to save the life of the mother.
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July 16, 2023 at 02:00PM
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Arkansas attorney general wants to know about your out-of-state abortion - Arkansas Times
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