For Immediate Release
S.T.O.P. Report: Financial, Medical Recordkeeping Laws Endanger Abortion
(New York, NY 12/20/24) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, released Unintended Traps: Recordkeeping Requirements that Endanger Abortion Access, a report detailing how medical and financial recordkeeping laws endanger abortion providers and funders, even in states with strong abortion shield laws. S.T.O.P. anonymously interviewed numerous telemedicine providers operating under state shield laws that protect abortion providers (“shield clinics”), abortion funders in states that effectively ban abortion, a representative of an abortion information text line, and experts who advise these service providers. The report comes shortly after Texas sued a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills to a patient near Dallas, the first attempt to enforce a state abortion ban beyond state lines. The report calls on states protecting reproductive rights to harden abortion access by bolstering their shield laws and setting aside dedicated funding for telemedicine abortion services.
SEE: Report - Unintended Traps: Recordkeeping Requirements that Endanger Abortion Access
https://www.stopspying.org/unintended-traps
AP - Texas’ abortion pill lawsuit against New York doctor marks new challenge to interstate telemedicine
https://apnews.com/article/abortion-pills-lawsuit-shield-laws-texas-telemedicine-74c9b7d5c3c152e4c8f199b29132daec
“With Texas reaching across state borders to try to apply its abortion sanctions in New York, we have entered a chilling new era of interstate attacks on abortion access,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Research Director Eleni Manis. “In our interviews, shield clinics and abortion funds shared their painful awareness of how required recordkeeping sets a surveillance trap for providers and their patients. States protecting reproductive rights must act fast to expand their shield laws to explicitly cover telemedicine abortion, abortion funds, and other vital supports like pharmacies and website hosting companies.”
“Pro-choice states that pledged to protect providers are often trapping them with these requirements,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “When many of these medical and financial surveillance systems were created, no one imagined that they would be used to target telemedicine abortion. Post Dobbs, these threats have taken on new weight, and the situation will only get worse. In the coming years, we are poised to see nothing short of a Constitutional crisis as anti-abortion extremists seek to prosecute medical care delivered out of state. Shield states must act now if they want to truly shield providers, repealing the medical and financial recordkeeping requirements that put providers at risk.”
Key Findings Include:
- As states go head-to-head on abortion, medical and financial recordkeeping requirements endanger abortion providers and funders, even in states with strong abortion shield laws;
- States that protect reproductive rights must strengthen laws that prohibit abortion-related data disclosure and protect telemedicine abortion access;
- These laws are under test as Texas sues a New York doctor in a first, extraordinary attempt to enforce a state abortion ban beyond state lines;
- In the coming years, we will likely see growing weaponization of these records to prosecute telemedicine abortion access and out-of-state patient care.
Earlier this year, S.T.O.P. released Anti-Abortion Ad Tech: Ad Tech Puts Abortion Seekers at Risk, a report detailing near-ubiquitous ad tech surveillance of abortion providers’ websites, putting providers and patients at risk. Despite Google and Meta’s past statements supporting abortion access, they and fellow ad tech companies continue to track abortion scheduling and advocacy websites, collecting data that prosecutors can easily weaponize to target those seeking care out of state. In 2023, S.T.O.P. released Roadblock to Care: Barriers to Out of State Travel for Abortion and Gender Affirming Care, a report detailing surveillance of patients seeking out-of-state abortions and gender-affirming care.
SEE: S.T.O.P. Report - S.T.O.P. Documents Ubiquitous Ad Tech Surveillance Of Abortion Websites
https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2024/2/21/stop-documents-ubiquitous-ad-tech-surveillance-of-abortion-websites
S.T.O.P. Report - Roadblock to Care: Barriers to Out of State Travel for Abortion and Gender Affirming Care
https://www.stopspying.org/roadblock-to-care
The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.
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CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn
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