TDD #9: PRESIDENT BIDEN'S EXECUTIVE ORDER (Part 8)

On July 8, 2022, President Biden issued an Executive Order (EO) in response to the Dobbs v. Jackson decision overruling Roe v. Wade.

The Dobbs Daily?is breaking it down, section-by-section, line-by-line.

Now, the EO isn’t very long, but it covers a lot of ground and mandates action in a very short period of time.?

You can read the full text here:?

The Dobbs Daily?#2?included links to some of my posts about Executive Orders generally, so feel free to check that out if you haven't had a chance.

The Executive Order

The?President's?EO has 6 sections, we’ll unpack each section one-by-one over the coming days. Some sections have multiple subsections, so we’ll tackle the subsections independently.?

I’m not sure how long it will take to get through this, but we’ll go until we’re done!

Here are the 6 sections:

1 - Policy

2 - Definitions

3 - Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare Services

4 - Protecting Privacy, Safety, and Security

5 - Coordinating Implementation Efforts

6 - General Provisions?

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Today we start unpacking Section 4: Protecting Privacy, Safety, and Security

Here's the full text:

Sec. 4.?Protecting Privacy, Safety, and Security.?

(a)?To address potential heightened safety and security risks related to the provision of reproductive healthcare services, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider actions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to ensure the safety of patients, providers, and third parties, and to protect the security of clinics (including mobile clinics), pharmacies, and other entities providing, dispensing, or delivering reproductive and related healthcare services.

(b)?To address the potential threat to patient privacy caused by the transfer and sale of sensitive health-related data and by digital surveillance related to reproductive healthcare services, and to protect people seeking reproductive health services from fraudulent schemes or deceptive practices:

(i)???The Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is encouraged to consider actions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law (including the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 41?et seq.), to protect consumers’ privacy when seeking information about and provision of reproductive healthcare services.

(ii)??The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall consider actions, including providing guidance under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Public Law 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936 (1996) as amended by Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115 (2009), and any other statutes as appropriate, to strengthen the protection of sensitive information related to reproductive healthcare services and bolster patient-provider confidentiality.

(iii)?The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, in consultation with the Attorney General, consider actions to educate consumers on how best to protect their health privacy and limit the collection and sharing of their sensitive health-related information.?

(iv)??The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Chair of the FTC, consider options to address deceptive or fraudulent practices related to reproductive healthcare services, including online, and to protect access to accurate information.

Let's dive in to Section 4(a) through (b)(i) ....

EO TEXT:

Sec. 4.?Protecting Privacy, Safety, and Security.?

(a)?To address potential heightened safety and security risks related to the provision of reproductive healthcare services, the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider actions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to ensure the safety of patients, providers, and third parties, and to protect the security of clinics (including mobile clinics), pharmacies, and other entities providing, dispensing, or delivering reproductive and related healthcare services.

COMMENTARY:

In this part of the EO, the President is directing the Attorney General (the chief lawyer for the U.S.) and the Secretary of Homeland Security (also a cabinet level position) shall get together and think about how best to keep people physically safe while providing or obtaining abortion or related healthcare services.

EO TEXT:

(b)?To address the potential threat to patient privacy caused by the transfer and sale of sensitive health-related data and by digital surveillance related to reproductive healthcare services, and to protect people seeking reproductive health services from fraudulent schemes or deceptive practices:

(i)???The Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is encouraged to consider actions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law (including the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 41?et seq.), to protect consumers’ privacy when seeking information about and provision of reproductive healthcare services.

COMMENTARY:

Section 3. Part (b)(i) recognizes that patient privacy is extremely important, which pre-existed the Dobbs v. Jackson decision, of course. But there may be new concerns about private companies selling search data regarding those searching for abortion services and how best to manage that.

The President is "encouraging" the the Federal Trade Commission, a governmental agency tasked with consumer protection, to consider actions to ensure consumer's seeking abortion or related healthcare are protected from fraudulent schemes and deceptive practices of those who would exploit their data, not otherwise protected by HIPAA or other privacy regulations.

Note this is an encouragement, not a directive.

That's a wrap for TDD #9.

We'll finish up Section 4 tomorrow with directives - not mere encouragements - to the Secretary of Health and Human Services, so come back tomorrow for TDD #10 as we breakdown Section 4: Protecting Privacy, Safety, and Security.?

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WANT TO LEARN MORE? Check out my podcast I Am Roe, Hear Me Roar! ...

For a deeper dive into?Roe v. Wade,?what it says (and doesn’t say), listen to my podcast:?I am Roe, Hear Me Roar!?available on all podcasting apps.?You can also listen, or read the transcripts, on my website here:

Episode 5 is live!

GOT QUESTIONS? Drop them below ...

If you have specific questions, please drop them in the comments.?I’ll do my best to respond directly or in a future edition of?The Dobbs Daily.

Thank you for hanging out with me ... more tomorrow with TDD #10.