In an opinion issued on June 18, 2025[1], a US District Court in Amarillo, Texas ruled that the US Department of Health and Human Services’ 2024 HIPAA Privacy Rule to Support Reproductive Health Care Privacy (the “2024 Rule”) was contrary to law since it illegally limits state public health laws and oversteps the authority delegated to HHS by Congress.
As described in our previous alert, the 2024 Rule, issued by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) under the Biden Administration, prohibited the use or disclosure of protected health information (“PHI”) related to lawful reproductive health care to investigate or impose liability on individuals for accessing such care. The 2024 Rule took effect on December 23, 2024, aiming to protect patient privacy and promote trust between individuals and their healthcare providers following the US Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The 2024 Final Rule also finalized changes to the Notice of Privacy Practices (“NPP”), many of which will remain intact following the US District Court’s decision.
The US District Court found that the 2024 Rule unlawfully preempted state public health laws, prohibiting reporting of child abuse to the extent that such a report would be based solely on lawfully provided reproductive health care. The court also reasoned that the rule was untenable for HIPAA covered entities, requiring them to “scrub” PHI in response to any PHI request from state public health authorities and scrutinize “confusing abortion and gender-identity jurisprudence, legislation and regulations” to decipher whether reproductive health care was lawfully provided.[2] The Court further held that HHS had impermissibly redefined the statutory terms “person” and “public health,” finding that HHS could not preempt state laws in such a way as to deny legal status to unborn humans or limit public health investigations into “the mere act” of seeking, facilitating, or providing reproductive health care.[3]
In vacating the rule, the US District Court gave nationwide effect to its ruling.[4] However, the portions of the rule updating the NPP unrelated to reproductive health care limitations remain in effect. It remains to be seen if HHS will challenge the holding.
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[1] Purl v. Dep’t of Health and Human Services, N.D. Tex., No. 2:24-cv-00228, 6/18/25.
[2] Id. at p. 37.
[3] Id. at pp. 37-46.
[4] Id. at p. 58.
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