Dear Friend,

As states across our country have gone backward, banning abortion, going after birth control, and gutting vital health care, here in Michigan we are taking action to protect your fundamental right to make your own decisions about your own body and health.

A big part of protecting reproductive freedom is making sure your health data is private and secure.

With so much sensitive information online about our health, habits, and lives, including data from pregnancy and period tracking apps, we need to stay vigilant about bad actors trying to get their hands on it. Without adequate protections, this personal data could be used to go after women seeking reproductive health care, prosecute their friends and family, and jail nurses and doctors for doing their jobs.

Here in Michigan, I’m proud that state legislators like Rep. Laurie Pohutsky are working to pass a law to protect people’s data so Michiganders seeking reproductive care don’t have to worry about their health data being used against them by bad, out-of-state actors.

Even before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, I talked to my daughters about the potential risk of using their period tracking apps. We all have to be proactive to protect our data. We ought to go one step further and codify these protections in state law to ensure your data can only be used for the purposes you agree to and make sure your data can't be sold without your consent.

I urge every Michigander to check the settings on their health apps, especially if they are living out of state in a place with restrictions on abortion and contraception. Together, let’s keep advocating for stronger data privacy protections in Michigan.

See more below on how to make sure your data is safe.

Let’s get it done.

Sincerely,

Gretchen Whitmer

Governor

Protecting Your Health Data

As reproductive freedom is under attack and extremists seek to use location and health data to go after women, nurses, and doctors, it is important to make sure your data is private. While there are already provisions in Michigan and federal law with regard to health data privacy in general, we need stronger protections against bad actors and private companies monitoring pregnancies, period apps, and other health-related data.

Attorney General Dana Nessel urges Michiganders to think carefully about what personal data they allow a company to access. Michiganders should carefully review the data policies for apps they download and use that hold data related to personal health data, including those that track pregnancy, fertility, or menstrual cycles. Because that data can reveal stops and starts for periods, ovulation, and pregnancy, there is concern the information could become evidence in states that criminalize abortion.  

Visit the Department of Attorney General’s Consumer Protection page to learn how to best protect your private health data and location data.

Here are some additional tips from the Federal Trade Commission on how to protect personal data:

1. Compare options on privacy. When considering a health app, ask some key questions.

• Why does the app collect information?
• How does the app share that information – and with whom?
• Then choose the app with the level of privacy preferred.

2. Take control of personal information.

• Do app settings let the user control the health information the app collects and shares?
• Is the app up to date?

3. Know the risks.

• Are the app’s services worth risking personal information getting into the wrong hands?

4. Report concerns. Do you think a health app shared your personal information without permission?

• Tell the FTC online
• File a complaint with the Michigan Department of Attorney General

For more information, see additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Our Progress to Protect Reproductive Freedom

Over the last few years, we’ve made a lot of progress to protect every Michigander’s fundamental right to make their own decisions about their own bodies and your ability to decide when, how, or if you want to start a family in Michigan.

☑ In 2022, Michiganders voted overwhelmingly to enshrine abortion rights and IVF protections in our state constitution with Proposal 3.

☑ Last April, with our new majority in the Michigan Legislature, we repealed an extreme 1931 law that banned abortions without exceptions for rape or incest and criminalized doctors and nurses for doing their jobs.

☑ Last May, I signed a law prohibiting employers from discriminating against women because they’ve had an abortion.

☑ Last November, I signed the Reproductive Health Act, repealing TRAP laws and enacting commonsense changes to protect reproductive health and freedom.

☑ In April, I signed the Michigan Family Protection Act, a package of commonsense, long-overdue changes to repeal Michigan’s ban on surrogacy, protect families formed by IVF, and ensure LGBTQ+ parents are treated equally under the law.

☑ In May, I directed the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services to issue a reminder to Michiganders to be cautious of data privacy laws after reports of law enforcement using personal health data to prosecute those seeking reproductive care.

☑ Last week, I announced a new program, Take Control of Your Birth Control, to ensure Michiganders have access to free contraception which will lower the cost of family planning and keep people healthy.

We got this done thanks to our strong legislative leadership and the support of a majority of Michiganders across our state.

Meanwhile, extreme politicians in other states are putting government between private decisions that should be left to your family and your doctor, and in the years since the overturn of Roe v. Wade, they’ve gotten bolder. So far, 14 states have passed total abortion bans. In Texas, lawmakers banned abortions with zero exceptions for rape or incest. In Florida, a ban is now in effect for abortion after 6 weeks, before most people even know they are pregnant. In Georgia, a similar ban is forcing women to continue high-risk and nonviable pregnancies and has resulted in tragic outcomes.

In Michigan, we cannot let politicians get between you and your doctor when it comes to making the right decisions for your family, your health, and your body.

I will keep fighting like hell to protect reproductive freedom in Michigan and make our state the best place to start, raise, and grow your family.