Woods’ bill bans state agencies from tracking repro health data

Measure would protect Missourians’ “private, sensitive and personal” info

Rep. Eric Woods (Tim Bommel/House Communications)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — State Rep. Eric Woods, D-Kansas City, filed House Bill 742 Tuesday to prohibit state agencies and law enforcement from using reproductive health data in their investigations.

Woods, a first-year lawmaker, said this bill would protect the right to privacy in a time when reproductive health rights are under attack across the country and especially in Missouri, which effectively banned abortion after Roe v. Wade was overturned in June.

“This bill protects the private, sensitive and personal medical information of all Missourians from being abused by the state government,” Woods said. “Like so many people in my district and across the state, I was appalled when it was discovered that our state agencies have engaged such gross violations of privacy. I promise to do everything in my power as a legislator to make sure this disturbing practice never happens again.”

In 2019, then-director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Dr. Randall Williams, admitted the department utilized a spreadsheet to track menstrual periods of women who visited a Planned Parenthood location in St. Louis. This data collection was part of Missouri Republicans’ crackdown on abortion rights before the ban went into effect.