


By Paige Gross, as seen in Kansas Reflector and is reprinted in East County Magazine under a creative commons license.
Photo courtesy: Elizabeth Ha (submitted by creator to Kansas Reflector)
July 29, 2024 (Kansas) -- As more states move to restrict and criminalize reproductive choices around pregnancy, wearable devices that track biometric data and period tracking apps could become digital evidence in court cases.
After the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022 and abortion was banned in the state of Tennessee, Danielle Kelvas quit using an app that tracked her menstrual cycle.
“It frightened me … I actually got frightened because it tracked me for like, a week,” Kelvas said of the Oura Ring feature Cycle Insights. “And I thought, where’s this information going?”
Immediately following the Dobbs v. Jackson Supreme Court decision which struck down the constitutional right to abortion, data privacy experts cautioned to take a closer look at menstrual cycle tracking apps. Information logged into these apps, or tracked via wearable devices like a Fitbit or an Oura Ring, have the potential to be used in prosecuting those who seek abortions in states which criminalize it.
Read more at Kansas Reflector.
Comments
re: "struck down the constitutional right to abortion"
A prior Supreme Court did hold there was a right to privacy
and that abortion should be legal in the first trimester for any reason, and in the second trimester for valid reasons, and in the third trimester only if the woman's life or health is at stake.
The Constitution, not the Bible, is the governing document for the United States. We are not a theocracy. There are many non-Christian residents and even many Christians would disagree with your sexist comment that the only "right" women have is to have babies. Thankfully we have a right to vote, which is in the Constitution now. We have a right to own proiperty, have credit cards, equal rights for jobs, and more.
The US is full of many people
The right to privacy is not a right for abortion
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