Sponsors (25)
The bill strengthens privacy protections for reproductive and sexual-health electronic communications—reducing chilling effects and risk of prosecutions—at the cost of limiting some investigative uses of evidence and adding administrative and legal uncertainty.
People seeking contraception, abortion, IVF, and other reproductive or sexual-health services (especially women and patients with chronic conditions) will face fewer chilling effects and be more likely to seek care because the bill limits government access to related electronic communications.
People who communicate about reproductive or sexual health (e.g., patients) are less likely to have those private communications used to initiate investigations or prosecutions, strengthening privacy and civil liberties.
The bill creates explicit statutory prohibitions on using contents obtained from wiretap orders and compelled records, strengthening electronic-communications privacy protections and clarifying limits on certain investigative practices for law enforcement and local governments.
Prosecutors and investigators may be hindered from obtaining or using evidence that incidentally contains covered reproductive or sexual-health information, potentially impeding some investigations and prosecutions and affecting public-safety outcomes.
Broad or ambiguous definitions of 'reproductive or sexual health information' could create uncertainty about what evidence is protected, triggering litigation and disputes over scope that impose legal costs and delays.
New sworn-statement requirements and judicial-finding obligations may increase administrative burden and procedural complexity for courts, local governments, and law-enforcement agencies, leading to additional workload and potential delays.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits using intercepted communications or compelled records to investigate or prosecute people who seek, provide, or facilitate reproductive or sexual health care and adds required applicant/judicial findings and sworn statements.
Official title: To amend title 18, United States Code, to ensure requests for data on individuals do not pertain to reproductive services.
Introduced May 6, 2025 by Ted Lieu · Last progress May 6, 2025
Prohibits using intercepted communications or compelled customer records to investigate or prosecute people who inquire about, seek, obtain, provide, or facilitate reproductive or sexual health care. Requires law enforcement applicants to state they will not use intercepted contents for such purposes and requires courts to make a comparable finding before approving intercepts; requires sworn government statements when seeking compelled disclosure that the information will not be used to investigate or prosecute reproductive or sexual health care activity. Defines "reproductive or sexual health information" to cover procedures (including abortion and IVF), contraceptives and medication abortion, prescriptions and distributions, conditions and status (pregnancy, menstruation, ovulation, fertility, sexual activity, unprotected sex) and related services. Does not create new funding or amendments beyond those privacy protections to two federal electronic surveillance and disclosure statutes (18 U.S.C. §§ 2518 and 2703).