Sacramento CA – Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan’s (D-Orinda) AB 254 has passed the Assembly floor with bipartisan support. The bill ensures the privacy and security of individuals’ information when they opt to use apps and websites that provide reproductive and sexual health services.
“When people track menstruation or fertility, that data is clearly health information; health information that can put people at risk of jail time,” said Assemblymember Bauer-Kahan. “California is committed to protecting the privacy and security of every individual, whether they are in a doctor’s office or online.”
The current lack of protection for sensitive information collected by menstrual tracking apps and other digital services leaves individuals vulnerable to criminalization and predatory advertising based on their reproductive health choices. This legislation is critically needed as some states have already moved to criminalize abortion and gender-affirming healthcare, putting millions of people at risk. In addition to the legal risks, the information sharing can result in users being tracked across the internet with ads about this sensitive information. This predatory advertising can be incredibly stigmatizing and dissuades people from getting care.
AB 254 extends the privacy safeguards of the CA Confidential Medical Information Act (CMIA) to digital services that offer sexual and reproductive healthcare, offering a vital layer of protection for this sensitive information. The consequences of this vulnerable data falling into the wrong hands are dire, and AB 254 prevents this from happening by creating a secure and continuous data protection across all health platforms.
Bills on “Reproductive Justice” and “Abortion Rights” Introduced
Here is this year’s bill package (or full story)
- AB 90 (Petrie-Norris) Improves access to long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs) for those seeking abortion services.
- AB 254 (Bauer-Kahan) Adds CMIA/HIPAA protections for data collected by menstrual, fertility, and sexual health apps and websites.
- AB 352 (Bauer-Kahan) Enhances privacy protections for medical records related to abortion, pregnancy loss, and other sensitive services through electronic health record sharing and health information exchanges.
- AB 571 (Petrie-Norris) Ensures that medical malpractice insurance includes coverage for comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care.
- AB 576 (Weber) Aligns Medi-Cal coverage of medication abortion with evidence-based clinical guidelines.
- AB 598 (Wicks) Requires school districts to participate in the California Healthy Kids Survey (CHKS) and include a module on sexual and reproductive health care as one of the core survey modules. (more info)
- AB 710 (Schiavo) Launches a public information campaign to provide women with accurate information regarding access to abortion care at crisis pregnancy centers.
- AB 793 (Bonta) Provides privacy protections for digital data related to patients accessing abortion services in California.
- AB 1194 (Carrillo) Ensures that California Privacy Rights Act protections always extend to accessing, procuring, or searching for services regarding contraception, pregnancy care, and perinatal care, including abortion services.
- AB 1432 (Carrillo) Requires every health insurance policy or certificate that is issued, or delivered to a resident of California, regardless of the situs of the contract, to comply with California laws that require coverage of abortion services and gender-affirming care.
- AB 1481 (Boerner-Horvath) Clarifies Presumptive Eligibility for Pregnant Individuals (currently called PE4PW) coverage policies and ensures PE4PW patients can access abortion services regardless of other health coverage.
- AB 1646 (Nguyen) Expands access to abortion and gender-affirming care by allowing out-of-state medical school graduates to practice in California for up 90 days.
- AB 1707 (Pacheco) Provider Protections
- SB 36 (Skinner) Strengthens safe haven protections by making it illegal for bail agents or bounty hunters to apprehend people in California and protect access to public benefits.
- SB 345 (Skinner) Provides legal protections for medication abortions and gender-affirming care.
- SB 385 (Atkins) Seeks to extend many of the updated training rules from SB 1375 last year to additional providers (i.e. physician assistants, etc.)
- SB 487 (Atkins) Provides additional safeguards for California abortion providers and other entities and individuals that serve and support abortion patients that reside in states with hostile abortion laws.
Other members of the Legislature have introduced or plan to introduce additional legislation on reproductive justice and abortion rights that the Women’s Caucus and the FAB Council look forward to also supporting.
