Massachusetts lawmakers OK sweeping abortion access bill

Massachusetts lawmakers authorised a sweeping abortion invoice Tuesday aimed partially at constructing a firewall to guard entry to the process after the U.S. Supreme Court docket overturned Roe v. Wade final month.

The invoice would shield abortion suppliers and other people in search of abortions from actions taken by different states, together with blocking the governor from extraditing anybody charged in one other state except the acts for which extradition was sought can be punishable by Massachusetts legislation.

Household planning funding is up for a vote on the N.H. Government Council — once more

The invoice additionally states that entry to reproductive and gender-affirming well being care companies is a proper protected by the Massachusetts Structure; requires the state’s Medicaid program, referred to as MassHealth, to cowl abortions; permits over-the-counter emergency contraception to be bought in merchandising machines; and requires public faculties and universities to create medicine abortion readiness plans for college students.

A singular Texas legislation banning most abortions after about six weeks is enforceable by way of lawsuits filed by personal residents in opposition to medical doctors or anybody who helps a lady receive an abortion.

One other merchandise within the Massachusetts invoice addresses the query of allowing an abortion for a being pregnant the has lasted 24 weeks or longer.

Beneath the invoice, the abortion can be allowed if, in the perfect medical judgment of a doctor, it’s: “(1) essential to protect the lifetime of the affected person; (2) essential to protect the affected person’s bodily or psychological well being; (3) warranted due to a deadly fetal anomaly or analysis; or (4) warranted due to a grave fetal analysis that signifies that the fetus is incompatible with sustained life exterior of the uterus with out extraordinary medical interventions.”

The overwhelming majority of abortions happen earlier than 20 to 21 weeks of being pregnant, specialists stated. In 2019, nearly 93% of abortions occurred at or earlier than 13 weeks’ gestation, whereas only one% of abortions occurred at 21 weeks or later, based on information from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention.

Different parts of the invoice would enable any licensed pharmacist to dispense emergency contraception and require the Public Well being Division to establish areas within the state with out entry to abortion inside a 50-mile radius and advocate methods to make sure entry to abortion in these areas.

The Home authorised the invoice on a 137-16 vote. The Senate backed the measure 39-1.

The invoice now heads to Republican Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk.

Baker, who helps abortion rights however has differed with lawmakers on particular insurance policies, stated he is hoping to carry a signing ceremony.

“I’ve solely examine half of it, however I am hoping that we’ll be capable of have a ceremony for that one too,” Baker instructed reporters as lawmakers had been debating the invoice, including that one piece of the invoice he hadn’t but learn was the portion coping with abortions at 24 weeks and longer.

The invoice partially echoes an govt order signed by Baker instantly after the Supreme Court docket choice barring state businesses from helping one other state’s investigation into folks or companies receiving or delivering reproductive well being companies which can be authorized in Massachusetts.

Abortion rights advocates praised the invoice.

“The overturning of Roe v. Wade was a direct assault on an individual’s basic proper to make selections regarding their very own physique,” Amy Rosenthal, govt director at Well being Care For All, stated in a written assertion, calling the invoice authorised by lawmakers “a daring step to ensure that residents in Massachusetts will proceed to have entry to all of the well being care companies they want.”