Schiff Introduces Amendment To Prohibit Invasive Medical Data Tracking of Students
Washington, D.C. – Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank), introduced an amendment to prohibit schools that receive federal funding from requiring information regarding students’ menstrual cycles after Republican elected officials in several states proposed regulations that would require students to turn over their private medical data for potential tracking.
The amendment is a mirror of Schiff’s Privacy in Education Regarding Individuals' Own Data Act, which would stop efforts by Republicans to track students’ menstrual cycles — a proposal put forward, most prominently by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as a roundabout way of discriminating against trans students that would also subject cisgender students to invasive government mandates of their private medical data. Since October 2022, public K-12 schools, colleges, and universities in Florida and Colorado have signaled their intention to begin requiring students to submit medical history regarding their menstrual period cycles. While the mandate is said to be intended to help screen for abnormalities in students’ medical histories, it has the potential to be used to discriminate against transgender students and prohibit them from playing sports, track information regarding menstrual cycles that could be used against pregnant students and students seeking or choosing to have abortions, and simply prohibit students from athletics who choose not to comply.
Schiff introduced the legislation as an amendment to the Republican misnomered “Parents Bill of Rights” legislation, which is little more than an extreme attempt to ban books and undermine the safety of children.
“Mandating students turn over their private medical data is a massive and invasive overreach — one that Republican governors and legislatures have proposed as part of their ongoing efforts to dehumanize trans individuals. There is absolutely no reason — none — that elected officials and the government should have access to the specific details of a student’s menstrual cycles — even more so when they are a minor. We must put an end to this macabre proposal from Ron DeSantis and others, and protect students’ privacy and medical autonomy,” said Rep. Schiff.
These Republican-led proposals have received significant pushback from pediatrics groups, LGBTQ organizations, women’s rights organizations, and reproductive rights groups. There is also significant concern for student data privacy as advocates suspect that school districts intend to save and track this information via third-party apps.
The original legislation is supported by A Better Place, American Federation of Teachers, Education Law Center, Equality California, Family Equality, GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders, National Disability Rights Network, National Education Association, Network for Public Education, and Silver State Equality.
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