N.C. Executive Order Promises Protection of Reproductive Health Privacy

The EO says that no state cabinet agency “may provide patient medical records, patient-level data, patient billing information, or other information or expend or use time, money, facilities, property, equipment, personnel, or other resources in furtherance of any investigation or proceeding that seeks to impose civil or criminal liability or professional sanction upon a person or entity for providing, inquiring about or helping someone access reproductive healthcare services in states where they are legal, regardless of the patient’s residence."

Additionally, Stein’s EO directed state agencies “to review and, where necessary, revise their policies for collecting and storing (i) records and data related to an individual’s reproductive health care; and (ii) precise geolocation data from an individual’s mobile phone or other internet-connected device, to maximize protections for individual privacy related to reproductive health care while remaining consistent with the North Carolina Public Records Act” and other state policies.

“Our state has seen alarming attacks on women’s reproductive rights over the past few years, and I remain committed to doing everything in my power to protect women’s freedoms and their privacy,” said Stein.