Reproductive Health & Freedom Watch Executive Director Debra Rosen: “As quality reproductive healthcare declines nationwide, leaving unregulated pregnancy clinics as the only option for many women, health providers & privacy experts are in agreement that UPCs must be held to a higher standard.”
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, Honolulu Civil Beat published an op-ed by Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch Executive Director Debra Rosen highlighting the alarming regulatory blindspot that allows Unregulated Pregnancy Clinics (UPCs) to deceive women about privacy protections for the sensitive personal health information they collect. The op-ed calls on state legislators nationwide to investigate UPC funding, oversight mechanisms, and implement safeguards against deceptive practices targeting vulnerable women and girls.
This month, six representatives in the Hawaii state legislature introduced House Concurrent Resolution 144, which seeks to investigate whether UPCs in the state comply with patient privacy regulations. UPCs—the first of which opened in Hawaii in 1967—are not subject to the same regulations as medical providers, potentially placing clients’ health and privacy at risk. Reproductive Health and Freedom Watch released a statement applauding the state representatives for taking the important step of introducing legislation that will ensure women and girls in need of reproductive care will have their personal health information kept private by UPCs.
Read Below:
Honolulu Civil Beat: Billion-Dollar Crisis Pregnancy Center Industry Demands Oversight
Since the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, access to OBGYN care has sharply declined in states with abortion restrictions, bringing an often-overlooked industry into focus—Unregulated Pregnancy Clinics (UPCs). Also known as crisis pregnancy centers, UPCs have grown into a billion-dollar enterprise operating in all 50 states, bolstered by over $320 million in taxpayer funding allocated by anti-choice state legislatures since the Dobbs decision. This rapid expansion demands urgent scrutiny, compelling state lawmakers to investigate how these funds are distributed, who is responsible for oversight, and what safeguards exist to prevent deceptive practices that prey on vulnerable women.
Hawaii legislators have recognized one of the most urgent needs for UPC industry oversight—patient privacy. Recently, six representatives introduced House Concurrent Resolution 144 to investigate whether UPCs comply with patient privacy regulations. This legislation acknowledges that UPCs—the first of which opened in Hawaii in 1967—operate outside regulatory frameworks governing other medical providers, creating significant risks for women’s health and privacy.
While UPCs present themselves as medical providers, UPCs operate outside the regulations that govern traditional healthcare providers. For example, UPCs misleadingly claim to keep client data “confidential” through Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance. In reality, because the vast majority of UPCs appear to not engage in applicable transactions, HIPAA lacks the authority to address UPC misconduct. This regulatory blind spot is leaving women at risk, and state legislators must fulfill their responsibility to protect constituents by closing this dangerous loophole.
These concerns are not merely statistical. When organizations present the appearance of medical legitimacy without corresponding accountability, real harm follows. Women nationwide face a troubling gap between the confidentiality these centers promise and the actual legal protections they receive—a dangerous disparity demanding legislative intervention.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently called on attorneys general in Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, North Carolina, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas to investigate privacy violations at UPCs. Additionally, the Campaign for Accountability called for investigations into UPCs in six additional states—Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, alleging violations of consumer protection laws. State legislators can support and expand these efforts through decisive legislative action, as modeled by legislators in Hawaii.
Academic research has also sounded the alarm. The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) highlights that 91% of UPCs promote the provision of “medical” services, while Health Affairs exposed how UPCs misleadingly claim HIPAA protections they are not accountable to. State legislators must implement evidence-based oversight before more women fall victim to this regulatory blind spot.