« 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.
