WASHINGTON — In light of the Supreme Court’s ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, the American Psychological Association has reaffirmed that psychologists should protect the confidentiality of patients who reveal information regarding reproductive care. 

The association’s governing Council of Representatives passed a policy Feb. 24 (PDF, 51KB), by a vote of 148-4 with one abstention, asserting that confidentiality is central to the practice of psychology, and that psychologists should follow the APA Ethics Code when it comes to patient confidentiality. 

“[P]sychologists must be able to speak freely with their patients and patients must know they have confidentiality when speaking with their psychologists, a concept recognized by U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland that, despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, ‘under fundamental First Amendment principles, individuals must remain free to inform and counsel each other about the reproductive care that is available in other states,’” the policy states. 

APA affirmed “that a psychologist’s allegiance ... [to] ethical standards related to patient confidentiality should be given the utmost attention and significance especially when psychologists are faced with ethical conflicts with a law requiring the disclosure of confidential information regarding sexual and reproductive health, including birth control; fertility treatment; contemplating, seeking, or having had an abortion; and related issues.”

This measure follows on a resolution the council passed in February 2022 reaffirming APA’s commitment to reproductive justice as a human right (PDF, 72KB), including equal access to legal abortion, affordable contraception, comprehensive sex education and freedom from sexual violence, with a particular emphasis on individuals from marginalized communities.