Existing law authorizes reproductive health care providers, employees, volunteers, and patients to be approved by the California Secretary of State for the purposes of enabling state and local agencies to respond to requests for public records without disclosing a program participant’s residence address contained in any public record. Under existing law, the Secretary of State administers an address confidentiality program that shields the residential addresses of reproductive health care participants from public records and allows them to use substitute mailing addresses.
Existing law prohibits knowingly publicly posting the personal information or image of any reproductive health care provider, patient, assistant, or other individuals residing at the same home address, with the intent to incite a third person to cause imminent great bodily harm to the person identified or to commit a crime involving violence or a threat of violence against the person identified. Existing law additionally prohibits soliciting, selling, or trading on the internet or social media, the personal information or image of such individuals.
Effective January 1, 2026, AB 82 expands these protections to include gender-affirming health care providers, employees, volunteers, and patients who face threats like those above because of their affiliation with a gender-affirming health care services facility.
AB 82 prohibits pharmacies, clinics, and prescribers from reporting or retaining prescription information for testosterone or mifepristone in the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES) and requires the State Department of Justice to delete existing records of these prescriptions by January 1, 2027. AB 82 prohibits California agencies and officials from sharing with out-of-state entities CURES data that would reveal the identity of the customers using those services, unless the legal process or law enforcement agency includes an affidavit or declaration stating that the information requested is not in connection with an out-of-state proceeding relating to any legally protected health care activity or other requirements are satisfied.
AB 82 further updates criminal and judicial procedures to extend existing reproductive health services safeguards to all “legally protected health care activities” in the State, including gender-affirming care.
AB 82 prohibits courts and law enforcement agencies from cooperating with out-of-state investigations targeting such activities, and bail schedules must set $0 bail for individuals arrested in connection with another state’s proceedings against providers or patients engaged in legally protected care in California. AB 82 also authorizes the Attorney General to impose a $15,000 civil penalty for false affidavits related to out-of-state legal or law enforcement requests.
(AB 82 amends Sections 6215, 6215.1, 6215.2, 6218, 6218.01, and 6219.05 of the Government Code, Sections 11165 and 11190 of the Health and Safety Code, and Sections 629.51, 1269b, 13778.2, and 13778.3 of the Penal Code.)