Implementation of Data Privacy for GAC

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[ADD LOGO/LETTERHEAD IF AVAILABLE]

Protected Health Care Commission – Implementation re: Gender Affirming Care

To: Laura Herrera Scott, M.D., Secretary, Maryland Department of Health; Ben Steffen, Executive Director, Maryland Health Care Commission; Nichole Sweeney, J.D., Chair, Protected Health Care Commission;

My name is (name, pronouns). I am a resident of Maryland and a volunteer with the Trans Rights Advocacy Coalition (TRAC). (if applicable, insert a few sentences about why you / your organization is part of TRAC)

I’m reaching out to encourage you to issue regulations on data protections for gender-affirming care (GAC) as soon as possible. With the incoming Trump administration about to take office, it is extremely urgent that the Protected Health Care Commission implement data privacy guardrails for gender-affirming care recipients and providers.

[insert a few sentences about how you are impacted by this issue, especially if you have experience with anti-trans states that are prosecuting people for accessing gender-affirming care, and/or why gender-affirming care is important generally]
[insert a few sentences about the dangers a Trump administration poses to GAC]

Thank you for your work to implement HB812 for abortion care. It’s essential that both reproductive and gender affirming care are shielded. I respectfully urge this Commission to issue regulations ensuring data privacy for Gender Affirming Care as well.

Sincerely,

(name)

(organization or what district you live in)

(email address)

________________

Resources / Statistics

(share specifics in your testimony if you’d like, don’t share the whole document please)

GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE SHIELDING ONE-PAGER

Additional research can be found here

HB812 testimony https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/cmte_testimony/2023/hgo/1kJ9uIk_xEyVQ5w1Exc-i9_L0Yf6lDvJ4.pdf

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EXAMPLE LETTER

To Whom It May Concern,

I would like to start out by saying that my name is Erica Burns and I am a constituent and a member of the Trans Rights Advocacy Coalition (TRAC). I am a resident of the 1st Congressional district of Maryland. I am writing to you because I am concerned with the future of healthcare when it comes to both reproductive healthcare and gender affirming healthcare.

I am submitting this testimony in support of House Bill 812: Health- Reproductive Health Services- Protected Information and Insurance Requirements. With this bill, there is the intent to ensure that health information for services that other states may have legislated as illegal are not disclosed to providers in those states. Also, it ensures that health information is not disclosed to law enforcement or other entities that may be pursuing legal action. We at TRAC remain in support of this legislation’s intent. I ask that you please issue regulations on this law as soon as possible.

When it comes to gender affirming care specifically, this is something I have benefited greatly from. I am a transgender woman and I have had all my transition surgeries, the most recent being facial feminization surgery. It has not been easy getting to this point. I had to jump through a lot of hoops when it came to changing the law here in Maryland. I wrote to members of Congress, as I am doing now. I contacted lawyers, who attended a state fair hearing with me. I spoke at the Senate in favor of the Trans Health Equity Act back in 2022. Once the law was finally passed earlier this year, I was able to advocate to have my surgery three months earlier than it was originally scheduled. I feel so much better now that my face feels right. I see a feminine face, not a masculine one. I feel so much relief from my now far less present gender dysphoria. I now have a full-time job, where I am fortunate enough to be the person for others that I did not have for myself. It is a wonderful thing, but I would not have been able to get here had I not had my facial feminization surgery, or the surgeries before that. I am writing to ask that gender affirming care remain a covered benefit, and a legal form of healthcare. I don’t know if I would be alive right now if I hadn’t had access to this life-saving care.

I truly believe that reproductive healthcare and gender affirming care go hand in hand. At the end of the day, we are all fighting the same fight. We are looking to have agency over our own bodies, and not have those who are more privileged gatekeep what we can and cannot do. This is not just about me as a transgender woman. This is also about biological women and people assigned female at birth. There are so many groups of people being negatively impacted by the upcoming Trump administration. I do believe, however, that if we all come together, we have a better chance of fighting back against upcoming legislation than we would apart.

Thank you for your time and consideration of these very important matters.

Sincerely,

Erica Burns

EBurns42692@gmail.com