This week presents a watershed moment for many in the United States as Roe v Wade was overturned in the US Supreme Court. This decision effectively makes abortions illegal in many States, but the full impact of the overturning is yet to be tallied.

This as fears over the criminalisation of abortion looms large.

While it remains to be seen what will happen in this regard, already, questions are being asked of companies that develop reproductive health apps and the privacy of the data that users share on said apps daily.

More specifically there are legitimate concerns that reproductive health app data could be used against a woman in court where an abortion case is present.

As such, the Democratic Party is looking to pass legislation to help prevent this from happening.

To that end Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has outlined the Democrats plan to safeguard said data and build more protections following the overturning of Roe v Wade.

“Following the release of the draft decision, our pro-choice House Democratic Majority has been hard at work preparing for the possibility of this tragic outcome,” she explained in a letter.

“Our Caucus has been exploring avenues to protect the health and freedom of American women. Among them is legislation that:

• Protects women’s most intimate and personal data stored in reproductive health apps.  Many fear that this information could be used against women by a sinister prosecutor in a state that criminalizes abortion.
• Makes clear that Americans have the Constitutional right to travel freely and voluntarily throughout the United States.
• Once again passes the Women’s Health Protection Act: landmark legislation to enshrine Roe v. Wade into the law of the land.”

While it is unclear whether Democrats can indeed pass such legislation, people in the US are not wasting time waiting for a decision to be made, which is why there was a surge in download of period tracking apps over the weekend, according to a TechCrunch report.

One of the apps that has risen in popularity is Flo, which confirmed over the weekend that it is working on an Anonymous Mode, which removes personal information from a user’s account so they cannot be identified. Precisely when this Mode will be rolled out and how Flo users can gain access to it or switch from their current plan is yet to be divulged.

As more women in the US fear the criminalisation of abortion, we will likely see other period tracking and reproductive health apps make similar moves, with privacy a key concern moving forward.

“It is essential that we protect and expand our pro-choice Majorities in the House and Senate in November so that we can eliminate the filibuster so that we can restore women’s fundamental rights – and freedom for every American,” concluded Pelosi.

[Image – Photo by Adam Szuscik on Unsplash]