[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 13, 2022)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 42053-42055]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-15138]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 133 / Wednesday, July 13, 2022 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 42053]]
Executive Order 14076 of July 8, 2022
Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare
Services
By the authority vested in me as President by the
Constitution and the laws of the United States of
America, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Policy. Nearly 50 years ago, Roe v. Wade,
410 U.S. 113 (1973), articulated the United States
Constitution's protection of women's fundamental right
to make reproductive healthcare decisions. These deeply
private decisions should not be subject to government
interference. Yet today, fundamental rights--to
privacy, autonomy, freedom, and equality--have been
denied to millions of women across the country.
Eliminating the right recognized in Roe has already had
and will continue to have devastating implications for
women's health and public health more broadly. Access
to reproductive healthcare services is now threatened
for millions of Americans, and especially for those who
live in States that are banning or severely restricting
abortion care. Women's health clinics are being forced
to close--including clinics that offer other preventive
healthcare services such as contraception--leaving many
communities without access to critical reproductive
healthcare services. Women seeking abortion care--
especially those in low-income, rural, and other
underserved communities--now have to travel to
jurisdictions where services remain legal
notwithstanding the cost or risks.
In the face of this health crisis, the Federal
Government is taking action to protect healthcare
service delivery and promote access to critical
reproductive healthcare services, including abortion.
It remains the policy of my Administration to support
women's right to choose and to protect and defend
reproductive rights. Doing so is essential to justice,
equality, and our health, safety, and progress as a
Nation.
Sec. 2. Definitions. (a) The term ``agency'' means any
authority of the United States that is an ``agency''
under 44 U.S.C. 3502(1), other than one considered to
be an independent regulatory agency, as defined in 44
U.S.C. 3502(5).
(b) The term ``reproductive healthcare services''
means medical, surgical, counseling, or referral
services relating to the human reproductive system,
including services relating to pregnancy or the
termination of a pregnancy.
Sec. 3. Protecting Access to Reproductive Healthcare
Services. (a) Within 30 days of the date of this order,
the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall submit
a report to the President:
(i) identifying potential actions:
(A) to protect and expand access to abortion care, including medication
abortion; and
(B) to otherwise protect and expand access to the full range of
reproductive healthcare services, including actions to enhance family
planning services such as access to emergency contraception;
(ii) identifying ways to increase outreach and education about access to
reproductive healthcare services, including by launching a public awareness
initiative to provide timely and accurate information about such access,
which shall:
(A) share information about how to obtain free or reduced cost
reproductive healthcare services through Health Resources and Services
Administration-Funded Health Centers, Title X clinics, and other providers;
and
[[Page 42054]]
(B) include promoting awareness of and access to the full range of
contraceptive services, as well as know-your-rights information for those
seeking or providing reproductive healthcare services; and
(iii) identifying steps to ensure that all patients--including pregnant
women and those experiencing pregnancy loss, such as miscarriages and
ectopic pregnancies--receive the full protections for emergency medical
care afforded under the law, including by considering updates to current
guidance on obligations specific to emergency conditions and stabilizing
care under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, 42 U.S.C. 1395dd,
and providing data from the Department of Health and Human Services
concerning implementation of these efforts.
(b) To promote access to reproductive healthcare
services, the Attorney General and the Counsel to the
President shall convene a meeting of private pro bono
attorneys, bar associations, and public interest
organizations in order to encourage lawyers to
represent and assist patients, providers, and third
parties lawfully seeking these services throughout the
country.
Sec. 4. Protecting Privacy, Safety, and Security. (a)
To address potential heightened safety and security
risks related to the provision of reproductive
healthcare services, the Attorney General and the
Secretary of Homeland Security shall consider actions,
as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, to
ensure the safety of patients, providers, and third
parties, and to protect the security of clinics
(including mobile clinics), pharmacies, and other
entities providing, dispensing, or delivering
reproductive and related healthcare services.
(b) To address the potential threat to patient
privacy caused by the transfer and sale of sensitive
health-related data and by digital surveillance related
to reproductive healthcare services, and to protect
people seeking reproductive health services from
fraudulent schemes or deceptive practices:
(i) The Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is encouraged to
consider actions, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law
(including the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.), to
protect consumers' privacy when seeking information about and provision of
reproductive healthcare services.
(ii) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall consider actions,
including providing guidance under the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act, Public Law 104-191, 110 Stat. 1936 (1996) as amended by
Public Law 111-5, 123 Stat. 115 (2009), and any other statutes as
appropriate, to strengthen the protection of sensitive information related
to reproductive healthcare services and bolster patient-provider
confidentiality.
(iii) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, in consultation
with the Attorney General, consider actions to educate consumers on how
best to protect their health privacy and limit the collection and sharing
of their sensitive health-related information.
(iv) The Secretary of Health and Human Services shall, in consultation with
the Attorney General and the Chair of the FTC, consider options to address
deceptive or fraudulent practices related to reproductive healthcare
services, including online, and to protect access to accurate information.
Sec. 5. Coordinating Implementation Efforts. (a) The
Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director
of the Gender Policy Council shall establish and co-
chair an Interagency Task Force on Reproductive
Healthcare Access (Task Force). Additional members
shall include the Attorney General and the heads of
other agencies as determined by the Secretary of Health
and Human Services and the Director of the Gender
Policy Council. The Task Force shall work to identify
and coordinate activities to protect and strengthen
access to essential reproductive healthcare services.
In addition, the Task Force shall coordinate Federal
interagency policymaking, program development, and
outreach efforts to address barriers that individuals
and entities may face in seeking and providing
reproductive healthcare services.
[[Page 42055]]
The Department of Health and Human Services shall
provide funding and administrative support as may be
necessary for the performance and functions of the Task
Force.
(b) The Attorney General shall provide technical
assistance, as appropriate and consistent with
applicable law, concerning Federal constitutional
protections to States seeking to afford legal
protection to out-of-State patients and providers who
offer legal reproductive healthcare.
Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order
shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or
the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with
applicable law and subject to the availability of
appropriations.
(c) This order is not intended to, and does not,
create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural,
enforceable at law or in equity by any party against
the United States, its departments, agencies, or
entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any
other person.
(Presidential Sig.)
THE WHITE HOUSE,
July 8, 2022.
[FR Doc. 2022-15138
Filed 7-12-22; 11:15 am]
Billing code 3395-F2-P