On this episode Ariel is joined by returning guest Laura LeDoux about a serious issue, that what you don’t know can hurt you. Women’s FemTech data can be used against them, this is something you should know about so you can tell your families and friends.

Ida Tin coined the term FemTech. She is the Co-Founder of Clue, a women's health tracking app. FemTech has grown to encompass a range of technology-enabled, consumer-centric products and solutions.

Other examples of women's healthcare apps are: Nurx (birth control delivery); Khair (tracking your period, pregnancy, speaking to a doctor); Sexual Activity Log and Tracker (this includes birth control information as well as sexual activity); Ease (birth control reminders), and Unified Women's Healthcare.

The Griswold versus Connecticut case was the Supreme Court case that first gave women the right to contraception in the United States in 1965, making the prevention by states of the use of contraception by married couples illegal in 1965.

https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/381/479/ 

States that ban abortion are: Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma

From: https://www.google.com/search?q=states+that+ban+abortion&rlz=1C1CHZN_enUS1020US1027&oq=states+that+ban+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i512l9.7504j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 

Interactive map of abortion laws in the U.S.:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/us/abortion-laws-roe-v-wade.html 

Some states that have restricted access to contraception funds are:

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

From:

New Research Shows State Restrictions Reduce Contraception Use by Christine Vestal, 9/22/22,  Pew Charitable Trusts, https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/09/22/new-research-shows-state-restrictions-reduce-contraception-use 

Megan Kavanaugh, principal research scientist at Guttmacher, said,“Given the increased restrictive climate around abortion in our country, we are anticipating amped-up attacks on contraceptive access, as both of these are efforts that target people’s reproductive autonomy and freedom,” she added.

Guttmacher’s research describes the change in contraceptive use that occurred after Iowa opted out of a Medicaid family planning program in 2017 and set up its own state-funded contraception program, which excluded clinics that provided abortion along with other health services.

The study found that the share of patients at publicly funded family planning centres in Iowa who had not recently received contraceptives increased from 32% to 62% over two years. The share of patients not using any contraceptive method increased from 9% to 15%.

Roughly 50 million, or 65% of women of reproductive age, 15-49, used some form of contraception from 2015 to 2017, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, 1 in 3 low-income people who use contraception rely on Planned Parenthood or other publicly funded clinics to pay for the often-costly pills or devices. Medicaid, which covers about 70 million individuals, is the largest funding source for free contraception.

Another federal program, Title X, provides additional funds to roughly 4,000 clinics across the country to support access to contraception. During the Trump administration, those funds were withheld from Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide abortion.

In July, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a reminder to insurance companies that birth control, along with other preventive care, must be covered under the Affordable Care Act at no cost.  The agency said the action was part of a Biden administration effort to protect women’s access to contraception in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that eliminated the longstanding federal right to abortion.

“Under the ACA, you have the right to free birth control — no matter what state you live in,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “With abortion care under attack, it is critical that we ensure birth control is accessible nationwide, and that employers and insurers follow the law and provide coverage for it with no additional cost.”

From https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/09/22/new-research-shows-state-restrictions-reduce-contraception-use  

What can women do to be proactive with their data privacy and security and their healthcare apps?

1. Protect your data

• Use enhanced protection, especially if you’re in a state that does not protective women’s reproductive rights, e.g.
• Pseudonyms
• Having sensitive conversations orally instead of over text/email/apps
• Be aware that deleting data does NOT make it unavailable to law enforcement
• Don't post personal health conditions on social media

1. Lobby your local lawmakers to enhance data privacy laws at the state level to protect healthcare data shared over apps
2. In extreme cases, move to a state that honours and protects women’s reproductive rights.

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is also affected by the Roe decision. 

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

From https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-4/ 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• FemTech is something that’s at the forefront of technology in general and specifically technology to do with women’s health. It provides solutions to improve healthcare for women across a number of female-specific conditions including maternal health, menstrual health, pelvic health, sexual health, fertility, menopause, contraception, other general health conditions that affect women disproportionately such as osteoporosis or cardiovascular disease. It also affects the transgender community as well.
• There is no Federal protection for women’s reproductive rights. The Dobbs Decision has now left that to each individual state. You may have certain rights in ‘x’ state and then you move into ‘y’ state and now you no longer have those same rights.
• Health data that’s collected by a health provider, like a hospital or doctor’s office, is protected by a Federal law called HIPA (Healthcare Information Privacy Act). HIPA doesn’t apply to data collected by a healthcare app, for example, that you’re using to track your menstrual cycle because you're trying to get or avoid getting pregnant. That data is protected by whatever state law is in effect with regards to data privacy in general.
• The upsides of FemTech are that it creates apps, and virtual and digital space that improves care delivery with virtual clinics, direct to consumer prescription delivery – including the morning after pill – it enables self-care through tracking diagnostics, it improves diagnostics, it addresses stigmatised topics such as menstrual health, sexual health and pelvic care. It delivers culturally sensitive and tailored care for frequently marginalised communities, it also opens up healthcare and certain types of healthcare that maybe weren’t able to be physically present in neglected communities. It’s really been a catalyst for positive changes in healthcare. But now, with the collapse of privacy protections after Roe vs Wade we really need to be proactive in making sure we’re being vigilant about our own data privacy and security when using FemTech apps and what kinds of conversations we’re having over text messages.

BEST MOMENTS

“Women’s health rights have always been important, but they’ve never been more important than they are now in the wake of the Dobbs Decision.”
“If aggressive states can utilise this data in any way to prove that somebody may have intentionally miscarried, then they can file criminal charges against those women.”
“There are now cases where women are having defence attorneys in the emergency room with them to protect them if they’re having a miscarriage.”
“State like Texas don’t have any exceptions for rape or incest. It’s horrifying.”

ABOUT THE GUEST

Laura LeDoux, Esq., CIPP/US provides trusted program management and policy guidance in the Information Security space Laura leverages her legal acumen and expertise in information security, data privacy and compliance to help clients achieve their goals while staying compliant with applicable laws and regulations.

Laura liaisons with technical and legal professionals from around the world to deliver innovative solutions that merge legal and technical requirements to ensure end-to-end compliance. 

Socials:

If you want to connect with Laura LeDoux, please add her on LinkedIn at  https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauraledoux/ or reach out to Ariel. 

ABOUT THE HOST

Ariel is a Licensed Massage Therapist, Registered Clinical Hypnotherapist, Reiki Master, Empath and Psychic who has been involved in holistic healing since 1988. She is also an educator, speaker, author and mentor for empaths, spiritual seekers and medical professionals. To reach Ariel, go to www.arielhubbard.com, where you will be able to contact her directly.  Please let her know you heard her on the podcast and the assistance you need or question you have.

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