Framingham Reps Join House to Pass New Reproductive Rights Legislation

FRAMINGHAM – On Wednesday, June 29, 2022 the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed comprehensive legislation to further protect reproductive health care and gender-affirming services in the Commonwealth. Thanks to the Legislature’s determined efforts in 2020 to codify and expand access, abortion will remain legal in Massachusetts following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. The Massachusetts House took additional efforts to further protect these rights and establish additional safeguards following the decision. The bill includes confidentiality measures for providers, mandates insurance coverage for abortion services with no cost sharing, expands access to emergency contraception, and provides legal protections to providers, out-of-state patients, and insurers.

“The Supreme Court’s decision to completely overturn Roe v. Wade represents a fundamental attack on women’s rights. Now, more than ever, it is the responsibility of leaders in Massachusetts to ensure that the Commonwealth can serve as a sanctuary for women seeking reproductive health care, and for providers whose licenses could be at risk because of this recent Supreme Court decision,” said House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano (Quincy). “I want to thank Chairs Michlewitz and Day, as well as all my colleagues in the House, for their commitment to protecting a woman’s right to choose, and for their hard work that facilitated the passage of this legislation.”
“While we know that the reality for those without financial means to travel here for care is inequitable and dangerous, I am grateful to see this commitment to ensuring that our Commonwealth, our judicial system, and our law enforcement will be forbidden from sharing information on those who assist others in seeking this vital care, and to the extent possible by law, shield those seeking this care as they return home,” said Representative Jack Patrick Lewis (Framingham).“Massachusetts must again be a refuge for those fleeing the horrific reality created by their own state legislatures, while always striving to truly be that Beacon on a Hill of hope, working to ensure that our own laws around abortion access, reproductive rights, and LGBTQ+ care are ever expanding to protect our own residents, striving to be the sanctuary of care and support the rest of the country needs today.”

“As women’s rights face continued attacks from both the Supreme Court and other states, we here in the Commonwealth will continue to not only protect these rights, but expand upon them,” said Representative Aaron Michlewitz (Boston), Chair of the House Committee on Ways & Means. “We will not hesitate to act to protect reproductive rights and to ensure that our providers and patients are protected from being prevented from offering this critical form of healthcare.”

"The passage of "An Act expanding protections for reproductive rights" is a milestone in not just Massachusetts but nationwide, as we in the Bay State look to guarantee that all Americans have access to safe reproductive care” said Representative Maria Duaime Robinson (Framingham). “This legislation will ensure the safety of patients as well as providers for those who seek abortion care here in Massachusetts, no matter where you live. As we passed this legislation, we heard story after story of necessary abortion care saving lives of our residents, including procedures after miscarriages from deeply wanted pregnancies. Regardless of your reason for seeking an abortion, Massachusetts will stand firm and protect patients and caregivers of reproductive care.”

"All of our residents deserve safe access to necessary healthcare and now, with that access in jeopardy, the Legislature must protect Massachusetts residents and health practitioners,” said Representative Kate Hogan (Stow), Speaker Pro Tempore. “Today the House passed H.4930, a comprehensive response to last week's Supreme Court ruling that codifies access to abortion services, reproductive care, and gender-affirming services and protects the providers of these services."

“The House showed today that Massachusetts will act swiftly to protect the professionals who provide abortions and the individuals that need them,” said Representative Carmine Gentile (Sudbury). “ We will not sit idly by as the far-right Supreme Court ignores decades of precedent and strips Americans of their fundamental rights.”

“An Act expanding protections for reproductive rights:”

• Allows providers to apply to the Secretary of State to shield the health care professional’s address from public disclosure
• Designates reproductive health care and gender-affirming services as legally protected health care activity
• Reaffirms that access to reproductive health care and gender-affirming services are a right secured by the constitution or laws of the Commonwealth
• Requires insurance coverage for abortion and abortion-related care without being subject to deductibles, coinsurance, copayments, or other cost-sharing requirements
• Requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to issue a statewide standing order to authorize licensed pharmacists to dispense emergency contraception
• Protects providers and out-of-state patients in Massachusetts by:
• Prohibiting the Boards of Registration of various health professions from disciplining or taking adverse action on an application for registration of any person who assists with reproductive health care or gender-affirming services
• Prohibiting Massachusetts law enforcement from providing information related to an investigation or inquiry into legally protected health care services to federal or another state’s law enforcement agencies, quasi-law enforcement agencies, or private citizens
• Prohibiting medical malpractice insurers from discriminating against a provider that offers reproductive or gender-affirming health care services
• Protecting Massachusetts residents from efforts to enforce court rulings from other states based on health care activity that is legally protected in Massachusetts
• Prohibiting any Massachusetts court from ordering a person in Massachusetts to give testimony or produce documents for use in connection with any proceeding in an out-of-state tribunal concerning legally protected health care activity
• Protecting Massachusetts residents and providers from lawsuits seeking to penalize health care activities legally protected in Massachusetts
• Prohibiting a justice from issuing a summons for a person in Massachusetts to testify or appear in a court in another state in prosecutions or grand jury investigations related to legally protected health care activity
• Limiting the Governor’s authority to surrender persons to acts that would be punishable under Massachusetts law and prohibiting them from surrendering a person charged in another state as a result of engaging in legally protected health care activity
• Updating language from the 2020 ROE Act to ensure that impacted patients are able to receive in-state care

“An Act expanding protections for reproductive rights” (H. 4930) passed the Massachusetts House of Representatives 136-17. It now goes to the Senate for their consideration.

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