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Privacy advocates urge Senate to remove expanded abortion reporting and public dashboard language from HB 96
Summary
A witness with lived disability and civil‑liberties concerns told the Senate that expanded abortion reporting and a monthly public dashboard proposed in HB 96 risk patient re‑identification, enable harassment, and lack a clear public‑health justification.
An Ohio resident testified before the Senate Health Committee that provisions in the House version of HB 96 expanding abortion reporting and requiring a public‑facing, monthly “abortion dashboard” would threaten patient privacy and could be misused to harass or target individuals.
What was presented: The witness said the bill would expand the categories of data collected and publicly displayed (zip code, age, prior abortions, minor status and other particulars described in testimony) and that, combined, the added detail could enable re‑identification in small communities.
Privacy and precedent concerns: The witness compared the registry proposal to historical instances where registries were later used against vulnerable populations and said large, centralized medical databases are targets for abuse or hacking. The testimony said the public‑dashboard approach lacked a clear public‑health rationale and could have chilling effects on access to care.
Policy request: The witness urged the Senate to remove the expanded reporting and public dashboard provisions from the budget and to prioritize patient privacy, optional opt‑outs and independent oversight for any public health database.
Ending: The witness asked lawmakers to protect medical privacy and refrain from embedding detailed reproductive‑health reporting and public dashboards in a budget bill without clear public‑health justification.
