LINCOLN- Last month, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers joined nearly 20 other Attorneys General in signing a letter opposing a federal rule change related to reproductive health privacy. The proposed change would expand HIPAA's Privacy Rule to prohibit the use and disclosure of protected health information, including reproductive health, "for a criminal, civil, or administrative investigation or proceedings" against those who lawfully provided care, but may have done so to a patient crossing state lines.

The letter, which was written by Mississippi AG Lynn Fitch, urges the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra, to drop the proposed HIPAA modification, claiming that President Biden pushed a "false narrative" that states are treating pregnant women as "criminals" or punishing medical personnel for providing care. "Based on this lie, the Administration has sought to wrest control over abortion back from the people in defiance of the Consitution and Dobbs," the letter reads.

AG Mike Hilgers gave a statement on Tuesday regarding the letter, saying that it will help protect the status quo and the balance of power between federal and state governments. "Nothing in the proposed rule justifies upending settled law and creating a carve-out for abortion," said Hilgers in the statement. Scout Richters, senior legal and policy counsel for the ACLU of Nebraska, argued that there is a "simple and chilling motivation behind this letter: keeping the door open for criminalizing people who seek abortions or gender-related care beyond state lines."

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