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Committee hears AB 82 to protect health data for reproductive and gender-affirming care
Summary
AB 82 would block reporting of certain prescriptions to the state's PDMP, expand safe-at-home eligibility for providers, and broaden protections against doxxing; sponsors said the bill protects patients and providers amid coordinated out-of-state hostility, while opponents argued the measure would hide information and risk public health.
Assemblymember Ward presented AB 82, a bill designed to protect privacy and safety for patients receiving reproductive and gender-affirming health care. The measure would, among other changes, prohibit reporting of mifepristone and testosterone prescriptions to California's Controlled Substances Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES/PDMP), expand safe-at-home eligibility to include health professionals who provide gender-affirming care, and widen protections against doxxing.
"No parent, child or doctor should be punished for providing the care that people need," Ward said, framing the bill as an extension of earlier state protections for reproductive care.
Supporters included parents and advocacy groups such as the Alliance for Trans Youth Rights and Equality California, which cited rising harassment, doxxing and threats to providers. "This bill would help protect families like mine by making sure information about personal health care is protected," testified parent Renee Bayardo.
Opponents included members of Californians United for Evidence-Based Policy (CAUSE) and other groups who raised medical-safety concerns about excluding prescriptions such as testosterone from PDMP reporting. "Testosterone is a schedule 3 controlled substance... It can be abused," said Nicole Young for CAUSE, warning about potential harms and drawing historical analogies.
Other opponents described the bill as enabling concealment by providers. Testimony included competing views on public-health data needs versus patient safety and threats; sponsors said the bill does not criminalize disclosure and aims to balance privacy with defense access and clinical care.
No committee vote was taken; the hearing concluded without formal action because the committee lacked a quorum.
