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Healey just signed a law expanding reproductive and transgender care. Here’s what to know.
Healey called it “the strongest law in America that will protect reproductive health care, gender-affirming care, and those who provide it.”
Surrounded by advocates and providers, Governor Maura Healey signed an updated shield law last week to strengthen protections for reproductive and gender-affirming health care professionals and patients, including from federal investigations.
At the public bill-signing ceremony Aug. 7, Healey called the updated law “the strongest law in America that will protect reproductive health care, gender-affirming care, and those who provide it.”
“In Massachusetts, you have the freedom, you have a choice, you have the free will to make health care decisions for yourself and your family. I think that’s so fundamental,” Healey said.
She pointed to the state’s top marks in raising a family, having a baby, and overall health care.
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Advocates at the signing ceremony at Nurses Hall included representatives of Reproductive Equity Now, Health Imperatives, Fenway Health, and the ACLU of Massachusetts, and Nicole Smith, an OB/GYN with Brigham and Women’s Hospital representing the Massachusetts Medical Society.
The “Shield Act 2.0” will prevent disclosure of sensitive data, including the physician’s name, Healey’s office said. It also formally established that abortions are to be provided in emergencies due to medical necessity.
The law will also prohibit Massachusetts state and local officials from cooperating with federal and out-of-state investigations into health care services, such as abortion care.
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“It strengthens access to care. It bans discrimination. It protects the privacy and safety of those seeking reproductive care, gender-affirming care,” Healey told reporters. “No one is going to come to Massachusetts and attack our people, attack our institutions, attack our providers because we believe in freedom.”
In compliance with the law, the Department of Public Health will put together a technical advisor group to support businesses on implementing privacy protections for storing electronic medical records related to reproductive or gender-affirming health care.
Dallas Ducar, a health care provider and executive at LGBTQ+ specialization clinic Fenway Health, said at the signing that, “This commonwealth has made something crystal clear: We will not back down.”
“It’s a true honor today to celebrate a law that will save lives, including my own and so many other trans people who I know, so many trans kids out there who go to Fenway Health every day, among so many other organizations and receive life-saving care,” she said.
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