AMARILLO, TX – A federal judge recently blocked new regulatory changes by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that illegally restrict doctors from protecting their patients and reporting abuse related to the harms of abortion and mutilating gender procedures. The changes amend a privacy rule under the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) to silence health care professionals from reporting suspected abuse as a way to hinder enforcement of any state laws that ban abortion or experimental drugs and medical mutilation for children.