House passes abortion provider protections as advocates clamor for more
Sen. Elizabeth Warren urges focus on crisis pregnancy centers
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THE MASSACHUSETTS House on Wednesday passed a bill protecting Massachusetts abortion providers from adverse consequences by other states and requiring insurers to cover abortion care. Yet even with the Legislature’s swift action, health care advocates and Massachusetts’ US senators continued to push for additional steps to respond to the US Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade – such as a crackdown on so-called crisis pregnancy centers.
“Roe is dead. But we don’t give up,” US Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Massachusetts Democrat, said before entering a strategy meeting with Massachusetts’ top abortion rights advocates. “The Supreme Court does not have the final word, and here in Massachusetts, we are all in to protect pregnant people and people who need access to abortion services.”
Dobbs v. Jackson, the US Supreme Court ruling overturning the constitutional right to abortion and leaving the issue to the states, was released last Friday. Thirteen states have trigger laws that immediately went into effect banning abortion, and numerous other states are expected to ban it as well. Some states have created mechanisms to bring lawsuits against or prosecute out-of-state individuals who help a resident of their state obtain an abortion.
The Democratic-led Legislature in Massachusetts and reproductive rights advocates have committed to making Massachusetts a welcoming place for all women seeking abortion, including those from states where abortion is now illegal.
The House bill passed by a vote of 136 to 17, with six Democrats and 11 Republicans voting in opposition. It includes myriad provisions related to reproductive health care and gender-affirming care, which includes things like sex reassignment surgery, hormone therapy, and mental health counseling for transgender individuals.
The bill protects Massachusetts health care providers from lawsuits, investigations, licensing consequences, and higher insurance rates, stemming from other states trying to enforce laws criminalizing abortion. It also applies to gender-affirming care, to address laws in some states restricting the care that can be provided to transgender minors. Massachusetts law enforcement could not cooperate with these investigations, and individuals could not be extradited to face these types of charges. It would also let abortion providers keep their home address confidential through an existing program run by the secretary of state’s office.
“If you’re engaging in protected and legal health care activities in Massachusetts, we’re not going to allow another state to come in here and say you’re violating our laws,” said House Judiciary Committee Chair Michael Day, a Stoneham Democrat. “Today, we tell other states who would deny women full equality to stay out of Massachusetts.”
The bill also enhances insurance coverage for reproductive health care by requiring insurers to cover both abortion care and pregnancy and post-natal care without copays or deductibles. It authorizes pharmacists to dispense emergency contraception without a prescription. It also slightly loosens Massachusetts regulations allowing abortion after 24 weeks in cases of a fatal birth defect by adding an allowance for a “severe” fetal anomaly.
The House passage of the bill came after hours of passionate speeches and consideration of amendments. “There is no equality for women if we can’t control the most personal decisions about our lives, and decisions about our bodies,” said Rep. Ruth Balser, a Newton Democrat who said she participated in marches as a college student urging the legalization of abortion.
Rep. Marjorie Decker, a Cambridge Democrat, said, “I’m still processing what’s happening, the assault on autonomy, on women’s privacy, on our ability to choose with our doctor what’s best to save our lives, grow our families, or not grow our families,” Decker said.
Earlier in the day, both Massachusetts US Senators, Warren and Democrat Ed Markey, met with Dr. Jennifer Childs-Roshak of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, Rebecca Hart Holder of Reproductive Equity Now, and Matt Segal of the ACLU of Massachusetts to discuss next steps for abortion rights in Massachusetts. The advocates all said they support the steps taken by Baker and the Legislature, but those were only first steps.
Warren said it is often intentionally unclear in their advertising whether the centers offer abortion. “These are deceptive outfits that front for groups that are trying to harass or otherwise frighten people who are pregnant to keep them from seeking an abortion, and they do so under the cover of pretending to offer abortion services,” Warren said. “That kind of deceptive behavior wouldn’t be allowed in other areas. It should not be allowed here.”
Warren said possibilities for addressing the centers could include requiring them to state clearly up front that they do not provide abortion services, or cracking down on their marketing using existing laws banning deceptive advertising.
Markey issued a scathing indictment of the Supreme Court decision, calling the court a “stolen Supreme Court” populated by “radical right-wing justices.” He reiterated his call to elect more Democrats to the US Senate who support expanding the court and abolishing the filibuster so the Senate could pass legislation legalizing abortion nationwide.
Markey said it is important to ensure Massachusetts has the resources and funding to provide abortion to anyone who wants one, and to inform women “that Massachusetts will be a safe harbor for them if they need help.”
Segal said one takeaway from the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs is that public opinion can be used as part of the reasoning that influences a court decision. “What we do in Massachusetts now is not just something that can protect people, though that’s the most important. It’s the thing a future court can cite as a reason to say Dobbs and not Roe is the decision that’s egregiously wrong,” Segal said.