Calif. Reproductive Health Privacy Bill Crosses Chambers

Several states are considering measures that protect the privacy of reproductive health data after Dobbs v. Jackson, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and in the wake of President Donald Trump’s return to the White House (see 2502210015). Virginia surprised some observers when its Republican governor signed a reproductive privacy law earlier this year (see 2504110039).

The California Assembly voted 63-11 for AB-45, which “prohibits the collection, use, and disclosure of specified personal data relating to the provision of reproductive and other health services, enforceable by the Attorney General and through a private right of action,” according to an Assembly analysis of the bill by Privacy Committee Chair Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (D).

AB-45 would ban the collection, use, disclosure, sale, sharing or retention of personal data of a person who is physically located at or near a family planning center, unless the entity doing so is a health care provider, service plan or contractor.

Additionally, the bill would ban “the geofencing of an entity that provides in-person health care services in California for specified purposes, including to identify or track a person seeking or receiving health care services, to collect such a person's personal information, or to send notifications or advertisements to a person, and prohibits any entity from selling or sharing personal information with a third party for such a purpose,” the analysis said.

Also, the bill seeks to ban releasing personal information “to a subpoena or request, or to law enforcement, if the inquiry is based on another state's laws that interfere with a person's rights under the California Reproductive Privacy Act, or based on a foreign penal civil action.”

An aggrieved person or family planning center could sue violators within three years of discovering the violation, under AB-45. Or the AG could bring a civil action seeking an injunction and a $25,000 penalty.