ATLANTA — Georgia’s attorney general is among 18 insisting that the Biden administration pull back from a proposed health care rule that would protect women who get out-of-state abortions.
The administration wants to enact the rule in response to states like Georgia that have restricted abortion access following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
The proposed rule falls under HIPAA, the federal law that protects the privacy of medical patients.
After Georgia enacted the "heartbeat bill," which outlaws most abortions after about six weeks gestation, Georgia women still had the option to get later-term abortions if they traveled to less restrictive states, like North Carolina.
But abortion rights backers say a loophole in federal law will require those abortion-providing states to share patient information with their home states.
“For instance, an individual who has obtained a lawful abortion in one state may fear receiving emergency care in a state where abortion is unlawful because providing information to a health care provider in such a state could place them into legal jeopardy,” the Biden administration wrote in the Federal Register in April.
The administration seeks to prevent health care providers from disclosing such reproductive health information to other states. Pro-choice activists hailed the rule.
"Without a doubt this should not be tracked, and it was a great move by the Bden administration," said Alicia Stallworth, of the Georgia chapter of the National Abortion Rights Action League, in an interview with 11Alive News.
But 18 state attorneys general, including Georgia Republican Chris Carr, signed a letter insisting the Biden administration back off from their proposed rule.
“The administration has sought to wrest control over abortion back from the people in defiance of the Constitution and Dobbs,” the ruling that overturned Roe, their letter says. “The proposed rule… would unlawfully interfere with States’ authority to enforce their laws, and does not serve any legitimate need."
Backers of the Biden administration said their proposed rule would also protect families crossing state lines to receive transgender care that, like Georgia, has been outlawed in their home states.
By challenging the constitutionality of the proposed rule, the attorneys general could take the Biden administration to court.
“In a shameless attempt to play politics, the Biden administration wants to change the rules in a way that would hinder law enforcement’s ability to gather information about crimes against women," a statement from Carr's office stated, claiming under the current system, doctors can share such information with authorities to solve sex crimes.
"There is no mechanism under state law to prosecute women for having an abortion," the statement continues. "Georgia is not trying to – and does not – punish pregnant women. We are trying to stop dangerous traffickers, rapists, predators and abusers, but this rule change will make it harder to hold such criminals accountable.”