Abortion Access Act

What this bill would do:

• Enhances youth access to abortion
• Introduce state-level EMLATA, which ensures emergency treatment of pregnancy complications
• prohibit restrictions on abortions and providers

Why we need it:

The ROE Act, passed in December of 2020, codifies the right to abortion into state law, ensuring it will remain legal in Massachusetts. But with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Massachusetts must be prepared to handle the cascading impacts of hostile abortion bans across the nation, go further to remove barriers to abortion that still exist in our state, and ensure meaningful access for anyone who wants it.

Excerpted from Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts’s Legislative Agenda

Though abortion is legal in Massachusetts, it is not without restriction. This bill would further remove medically unnecessary barriers to abortion that often delay and/or stigmatize abortion care including several TRAP policies like unnecessary waiting periods for health-related information, ultrasounds inconsistent with the standard of care and review, and medically unnecessary regulations on facilities. It would also require the Department of Public Health to publicize information on where residents can find legitimate reproductive health care providers and invest in public education efforts to combat mis- and dis-information from anti-abortion organizations targeting pregnant people.