Mass. Gov. Healey signs ‘landmark’ shield law update to protect people seeking reproductive care
People seeking reproductive and gender-affirming care in Massachusetts will receive an added layer of legal protection under a bill that Gov. Maura Healey signed into law on Thursday.
The updated "shield" law the Democratic governor signed during a ceremony at the State House bars state or local authorities from cooperating with any federal or out-of-state investigation into health care services that are legally protected in Massachusetts.
That includes abortion and transgender health care.
"Massachusetts will always be a state where patients can access high-quality health care and providers are able to do their jobs without government interference," Healey said in a statement.
"From the moment Roe was overturned, we stepped up to pass strong protections for patients and providers, and with President Trump and his allies continuing their assaults on health care, we're taking those protections to the next level," the Arlington Democrat continued. "No one is going to prevent the people of Massachusetts from getting the health care they need."
At a time of enhanced federal scrutiny and legal threats largely led by Republicans in other states, lawmakers last week moved to update the 2022 shield law intended to protect providers and patients of reproductive care, including abortions, and transgender care.
Supporters say additional steps are needed to plug gaps in existing law in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
The bill Healey signed on Thursday also prevents the disclosure of such sensitive data as a physician's name. It also formally establishes that abortions are to be provided in emergencies due to medical necessity, the administration said in its statement.
Advocates who joined Healey at the signing ceremony hailed it as a "landmark victory for health care."
"As our country faces relentless attacks from the Trump administration and anti-abortion extremists seeking to dismantle access to reproductive health care, Massachusetts has taken a bold and necessary stand to reaffirm and expand our commitment to protecting patients and providers," Rebecca Hart Holder, the president of Reproductive Equity Now, said. "By signing this expansion into law, Gov. Healey has further bolstered our best-in-the-nation shield protections in the Commonwealth.
Democrats who control the state Senate announced in June that they were speeding the bill to Healey's desk as a part of what they described as a coordinated response to Trump's incursion against the Bay State.
The bill Healey signed Thursday will "enhance the protections for patients and providers we first put in place in 2022. In the Commonwealth, legally protected health care is just that, and we will always step up to uphold this and fight for our residents," state Sen. Cynthia Friedman. D-4th Middlesex, who's leading that effort, said.
Senate President Karen E. Spilka, D-Middlesex/Norfolk, echoed that sentiment.
"We will not cede ground to the Trump Administration as it attacks the rights and well-being of people seeking reproductive and gender-affirming care," the Ashland lawmaker said. "By reinforcing our Shield Law, we are expanding protections further than ever before. I'm grateful to Gov. Healey for taking swift action to sign this critical legislation into law."
Jordina Shanks, the CEO of Fenway Health, which provides those health care services, said her organization "[sees] every day how essential it is that people can access gender-affirming care without threats, delays, or discrimination."
"This law ensures that clinicians can focus on healing, that families can choose the care that's right for them while remaining protected, and that Massachusetts stands as a national beacon of equity and compassion," Shanks said.
Reports from State House News Service are included in this story.
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