A Texas family physician has filed a federal lawsuit challenging what Alliance Defending Freedom calls the Biden administration’s attempt at “twisting HIPAA under the guise of ‘reproductive health care.'”
What is Alliance Defending Freedom?
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, marriage and family, and the sanctity of life.
Alliance Defending Freedom Church & Ministry Alliance, offers specialized legal support to protect religious institutions’ ability to operate according to their beliefs. The division focuses on safeguarding churches, ministries, and faith-based organizations, providing dedicated legal services to help them maintain and defend their religious principles in practice.
Dr. Carmen Purl, who owns and operates Dr. Purl’s Fast Care Walk In Clinic in Dumas, Texas, contends that new regulations announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) would prevent healthcare professionals from fulfilling their duty to report abuse.
According to court documents filed by Alliance Defending Freedom, Dr. Purl “regularly encounters patients who have care needs or medical histories relating to their reproductive systems, including patients who have had or are considering abortions or ‘gender transition’ interventions.” She has also “encountered patients whose circumstances, including health information relating to their reproductive systems, suggest they may be victims of abuse.”
The rule changes, published in April 2024 and set to take effect in December, would prohibit doctors from reporting abuse or responding to state investigations to protect public health when the information concerns abortion or so-called gender transition procedures.
HHS openly acknowledged the political nature of the changes, the lawsuit claims, noting that the agency admitted the rules were a response to “[t]he Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs [that] overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, thereby enabling states to significantly restrict access to abortion.”
Texas law requires physicians to report suspected abuse or neglect of a child within 48 hours, and they cannot “delegate or rely on another person to make the [necessary] report.” The complaint states that complying with state law in violation of the new federal rule could result in “up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.”
Alliance Defending Freedom argues that HHS exceeded its statutory authority, as HIPAA explicitly states: “Nothing in this part shall be construed to invalidate or limit the authority, power, or procedures established under any law providing for the reporting of disease or injury, child abuse, birth, or death, public health surveillance, or public health investigation or intervention.”
The organization is seeking preliminary injunctive relief to preserve Dr. Purl’s rights while the case is pending, as well as a permanent injunction against enforcement of the rule changes.
In a statement on Alliance Defending Freedom Media, ADF Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake said that doctors and states should be able to protect patients from abuse. “The Biden-Harris administration’s unlawful rule weaponizes laws about privacy that have nothing to do with abortion or gender identity. The rule undermines state laws that protect mothers and unborn children from the harms of abortion, and vulnerable children from dangerous and sterilizing procedures like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and life-altering surgeries. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs resoundingly affirmed that states—not unelected bureaucrats—should set abortion policy and be free to protect unborn life,” Blake said.
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