“The health care providers who violated HIPAA regarding Lizelle Herrera’s care need to be brought to justice,” one doctor wrote.
Calls mounted on Sunday for Lizelle Herrera, a Texas woman charged with murder for self-inducing an abortion, to take legal action after her personal medical information was released. Authorities arrested the 26-year-old after she allegedly “intentionally and knowingly” caused the abortion, sparking international backlash against Texas’ stringent new abortion restrictions. In September, the state government passed Senate Bill 8, banning any abortion starting at six weeks into a pregnancy, when many women don’t even know they’re pregnant. Herrera was arrested after she had a miscarriage and divulged some information to hospital staff, who went on to report her to the police—leading critics of Texas’ abortion policies to argue the arrest stemmed from a HIPAA violation. HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, is the law meant to prevent medical professionals from revealing patients’ personal information.
