As the health care industry as a whole comes to grips with the fallout from the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health, here at Reed Smith we have formed a Reproductive Health Working Group to bring expertise from the across our many specialty areas to help our clients to prepare for the post-Dobbs reality.
To that end, we have generated a series of “unanswered questions” client updates to reflect the issues that a Roe reversal may have for the health care industry. Earlier posts on this blog have shared the parts of that series that focused on pharmacies, health care providers, and fertility practices, and employee benefit plans.
The Working Group has put together two new updates to branch into the employment and privacy areas.
In Part V of the series, Nicole J. Aiken-Shaban and Wendell J. Bartnick discuss the issues that arise in application of federal and state privacy laws in state’s that prohibit abortion. The alert brings to light, among other important developments, the questions that need to be dealt with when using mobile and computer-based applications that track health information that could be used in criminal proceedings in a state that prohibits abortion.
In Part VI of the series, Emily P. Harbison and Brenda Rosales-Carrillo tackle the questions that arise for employers in the post-Dobbs world. In particular, the questions of how and when employers should take a stance on the decision itself are covered. Additionally, there are questions about employees claiming religious and political viewpoint discrimination that employers will have to navigate.
All of the client updates are available here:
Unanswered Questions Part I: Pharmacies
Unanswered Questions Part II: Health Care Providers
Unanswered Questions Part III: Fertility
Unanswered Questions Part IV: Employee Benefit Plans
Unanswered Questions Part V: Personal Information and Privacy
Unanswered Questions Part VI: Employment
Reed Smith will continue to monitor any state or federal responses to this decision. If you have any questions about this topic or how the Court’s opinion will affect your organization legally, please reach out to the health care lawyers at Reed Smith.