Beyond Abortion: The Threat to Data Privacy in a Post-Roe World

Presenter

Lauren E. Sussmann

Campus

UMass Amherst

Sponsor

Kathleen A. Brown-Perez, Commonwealth Honors College, UMass Amherst

Schedule

Session 3, 1:30 PM - 2:15 PM [Schedule by Time][Poster Grid for Time/Location]

Location

Poster Board A23, Campus Center Auditorium, Row 2 (A21-A40) [Poster Location Map]

Abstract

The overturning of Roe v. Wade allowed many states to begin criminalizing abortion. This thesis examines how this criminalization has affected women by exploring the combined effect of the criminalization of abortion and the limited data privacy regulations in the U.S. on women’s rights and privacy. Contributing to this issue is the existing racial inequality and systemic deficiencies in access to healthcare that can combine with issues related to data privacy and access to abortion to deepen existing inequality in care amongst groups of women. The criminalization has decreased the level of care women can expect to receive in the U.S and has the potential to increase investigations into women’s reproductive health care. These potential criminal investigations will occur in parallel with modern advancements in technology that foster an unprecedented amount of data and data sharing. This study examines how these investigations alongside modern technology leave more women vulnerable to having their most private data accessed and investigated by the government, other entities, and individuals empowered by these new laws. Investigations into women’s reproductive health care enable the government and other entities to weaponize data against women and can limit women’s trust in the health care system. This would further limit women’s ability to access proper care. In conclusion, the legal and societal impacts of criminalizing abortion in a time with the highest level of accessibility of personal data sharing have the potential to limit women’s use of the healthcare system and perpetuate inequality in the U.S. 

Keywords

reproductive rights, women, data privacy, laws

Research Area

Law and Legal Studies

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