Roe v. Wade is poised to be overturned by the Supreme Court. This landmark decision nearly 50 years ago established the constitutional right of abortion. Some abortion providers are rushing for security measures to protect their data and patients’ data. They fear that this information may be used in future criminal prosecutions.
Others are already ahead of them. Mia Raven, director of policy at West Alabama Women’s Center said that her clinic almost runs entirely on paper. She said it’s an attempt to protect patient privacy.
Raven stated, “There is literally no computer in the clinic unless you bring your laptop from home.”
Other women’s clinic employees in the U.S. spoke to NBC News and said they use encrypted messaging apps and prefer Zoom meetings over email and text to reduce electronic paper trails.
These moves were partly due to uncertainty over the state laws that could be in effect if Roe V. Wade is invalidated. This could happen in the upcoming Mississippi case, which the Supreme Court could decide. The court confirmed that the draft opinion, which would have overturned Roe, was leaked in early January.
So-called trigger laws, which have been in place for years in 23 states, restrict or criminalize abortion, were not enforced by Roe v. Wade.
Some women’s health professionals worry that their communications, including those about abortions or related medical care, could be used in criminal investigations.
Dalton Johnson, Alabama Women’s Center’s CEO, stated that he is preparing for the possibility of it being forced to close down or reduce its operations. However, Dalton Johnson said that he is working to make sure his staff use encrypted email to communicate with patients and electronically send records. He stated that this would reduce the possibility of their internal communications and patient records being easily accessed by third parties.
Johnson stated that he isn’t sure exactly what legal status Alabama would have if Roe was overturned.
Johnson stated that Johnson is not certain if the aiding-and-abetting laws will prevent them from being able to help these patients. Johnson stated, “So we must wait until the decision is made. This is insane.”
Gabrielle Goodrick, owner of Camelback Family Planning, Phoenix said that the uncertainty surrounding what would happen led her staff to switch from using paper trails like email and Facebook groups to communicate with each other to phone calls and encrypted chat applications.
Goodrick stated that Signal is almost all we use now, with the exception of clinical questions. He also suggested that they talk on the phone rather than email.
She said, “I don’t plan anything illegal.” Goodrick stated that it was difficult to predict what lawful behavior will be after Roe is repealed. She said, “It’s confusing for me to know what’s going on.”
The Roe news brought attention to the fear that state prosecutors might engage in extensive surveillance of pregnant women’s metadata, such as tracking their period apps. However, in the few cases where state prosecutors have brought people to trial for crimes related to abortion, they have used more concrete evidence such as search histories and text messages. Cynthia Conti-Cook is a Ford Foundation tech fellow and author of an important study on the digital surveillance and prosecution of abortion-related charges.
Conti-Cook stated, “Yes, there is a huge amount of digital evidence that could infer circumstantially an abortion occurred, and I think this’s what many people are afraid of and paying attention too.”
Pregnant women seeking abortion should not be afraid to expressly admit that they want to end a pregnancy. This is especially true in states where the law could make it illegal to have an abortion with homicide, feticide or both. They should also avoid handing their phones over to police, who may consider such an admission to be intent to commit a crime.
“What can they do from a hospital record that shows you had a miscarriage?” With that, they won’t be able to move forward. She said that if they can access what you thought the day before, it’s gold.
Conti-Cook stated that pregnant women should take steps to protect their online and phone communications.
“Overnight, there will be a radical shift from what was legal yesterday to what is illegal tomorrow. So operationally, what can I do to change this today? She said that it was a very difficult swing.
Online resources are available for both those seeking abortions and providers who want to strengthen their cybersecurity.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is a leading internet freedom non-profit.
Raven of the West Alabama Women’s Center noted that clinics can only do so much, but still play an important role.