In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, states have adopted a range of policies regarding the surveillance and protection of reproductive health care information. Some states have used reproductive health data to enforce abortion bans through civil and criminal penalties. In contrast, twenty-two states and Washington, D.C., have enacted shield laws or issued executive orders to prevent the disclosure of reproductive health information.
A 2024 report from the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) provides an analysis of these shield laws across different states. The report notes that as telemedicine becomes a more common method for providing abortions, particularly through mailing medication from shield law states into those with bans, new legal challenges are emerging. These cases question whether shield laws can protect reproductive health information related to interstate telemedicine and if such protections are constitutional.
According to CDT’s findings, nine states have shield laws that specifically offer protections regardless of where the patient is located. These protections are already being tested in ongoing interstate litigation. If courts determine that shield laws are unconstitutional, some states may further increase their surveillance of reproductive health care activities.
The Supreme Court may soon be asked to address these issues, which could affect how reproductive health care is monitored nationwide.
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