By Bob Katzen
Gov. Healey signed into law the “Shield Act” which would prohibit state agencies, employees and law enforcement from cooperating with investigations by other states or the federal government, into reproductive or gender affirming health care that is legally protected in Massachusetts.
Other provisions include enhancing license protections for anyone providing or assisting in reproductive or transgender care; forbidding insurance companies from discriminating against or penalizing providers who offer reproductive and gender-affirming care; and protecting attorneys licensed in Massachusetts from removal or discipline for advising or representing clients on the topics of reproductive or transgender 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,” said Gov. Healey. “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. No one is going to prevent the people of Massachusetts from getting the health care they need.”
“Once again we are standing up to defend the rights of Massachusetts residents,” said Sen. Cindy Friedman (D-Arlington) Senate chair of the Committee on Health Care Financing. “Facing a wave of new threats on our autonomy from the federal government and other states, this legislation 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.”
“In Massachusetts, our residents enjoy equal protection under our laws and full control over their own healthcare choices,” said Rep. Michael Day (D-Stoneham), House Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary. “We stand united in affirming that we will not allow radical prosecutors or politicians in other states to exploit legally protected healthcare decisions made here in the commonwealth for their own political gain.”
“Today, we again affirm our residents’ right to make their own health care decisions—and that in Massachusetts, we will not discriminate against anyone based on the care they seek or provide,” said Senate President Karen Spilka (D-Ashland). “We will not cede ground to the Trump Administration as it attacks the rights and wellbeing of people seeking reproductive and gender-affirming care. By reinforcing our Shield Law, we are expanding protections further than ever before.”
“As the Trump Administration and Republicans across the country continue to target individuals for exercising their right to make their own health care decisions in consultation with their doctor, this legislation is representative of the Legislature’s commitment to preserving that fundamental right,” said House Speaker Ron Mariano (D-Quincy). “This Shield Act builds on the commonwealth’s proud history of preserving and expanding access to reproductive and gender-affirming care by establishing new safeguards around patient data, and by protecting health care professionals who provide that vital care.”
“It comes as no surprise that Gov. Healey would, unhesitatingly, endorse the expanded Shield Act,” said Catholic Action League Executive Director C. J. Doyle. “Healey has openly credited one of the leading proponents of the measure, Planned Parenthood—whose representatives attended the signing ceremony—with making her career in Massachusetts politics possible. Following her first election to public office, as Attorney General in 2014, Healey said her endorsement by Planned Parenthood was ‘a game changer for my campaign.’”
Doyle continued, “As 22 states and the District of Columbia now have shield laws, concealing the identity, obstructing the extradition and absolving the liability of abortionists who send Mifepristone to states where its use is illegal, there is growing pressure for action to correct this overreach. Any attempt to invoke the clauses of the Shield Law to require that Catholic institutions perform so-called emergency abortions as part of ‘stabilizing care,’ would be met by a court challenge on First Amendment free exercise grounds.”
“Gov. Healey and Massachusetts legislators have sadly, but predictably, bowed to ideology instead of protecting Massachusetts citizens, especially children,” said Sam Whiting, General Counsel to the Massachusetts Family Institute. “This ‘shield law’ only shields activist healthcare providers from transparency and accountability, all while infringing on the rights of other states to protect children from abortion and irreversible gender mutilation procedures.”
“Beacon Hill Democrats showed us who they were and what their desired outcome is with the Shield act and Rep. Adrianne Ramos couldn’t have said it better that the Republicans want parents to have a say in their child’s life, to say no to transgender or abortion,” said Rep. John Gaskey (R-Carver). “Democrats want to be the middleman between parents and their children. That is what this bill is about. They want to protect those that want to kill babies and mutilate children. When will this be enough? What are they going to add next year or better yet, take away from parents?”