Texas AG Files Lawsuit to Block Federal Abortion Privacy Rule

‘This new rule actively undermines Congress’s clear statutory meaning when HIPAA was passed,’ the attorney general says.

A protester holds a sign as she demonstrates in Miami after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization abortion case, overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision, on June 24, 2022. Marco Bello/Reuters

The state of Texas filed a lawsuit against a federal rule that aims to provide medical privacy for women who seek abortions who live in states that ban abortion and who travel out of state for the procedure.

In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in a federal court in Lubbock, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office is asking a federal judge to scrap the federal rule that was issued in June that enhanced the 1996 Health Insurance Portability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. It prohibits the disclosure of health information in connection to abortions or other related health care, and providers and insurers must fully comply with the new rule by December.