Health

8 HE ALTH • Fall 2022 state charges. And a month later on July 29, Baker signed into law legislation that expanded access to reproduc- tive health care, as well as gender-affirming care. The law expands medication abortion treatment to college campuses, ends cost-sharing for repro- ductive health care, and affirms the protections for patients and medical professionals put forth in the executive order. Crucially, Childs-Roshak said, it broadens the requirement for legal abor- tions after 24 weeks. "The Dobbs decision really unsettled the law in a lot of ways. A lot will be tested over the next few months and years as to what one state can dictate in another state," said Carol Rose, executive direc- tor of the ACLU of Massachusetts. "But because we passed this bill in Massachusetts, we are able to protect people who come to Massachusetts seeking abortion care." The victory of getting the law signed was major, Rose said, and public officials involved should be thanked. But at the same time, the ACLU field team made sure that people could gather on the Boston Common and in other public parks to express their frustration and outrage over the Supreme Court's decision. "We believe in the importance of using the marketplace and public spaces for people to have the opportunity to express their feelings and beliefs to the government," Rose said. "We wanted to make sure there was an outlet for that, so peo- ple could do that peacefully and allow their voices to be heard." The future of abortion access Massachusetts has expanded abortion access aer the Dobbs decision, but care barriers and legal issues still remain By Laura Finaldi R eproductive rights advocates in Massachusetts were devastated, but not surprised, when the U.S. Supreme Court officially overturned Roe v. Wade in June. But in the weeks following the court's decision, protections for Massachusetts patients and doctors involved in the repro- ductive health space have only gotten stronger. On July 29, just over a month after the Supreme Court decided U.S. citizens no longer have a legal right to abortion, Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill that expanded abortion access and gender-affirm- ing care in Massachusetts. New rights included in the law include protec- tions for Massachusetts doctors from out-of-state prosecution, prohibiting state agencies from assisting with investigations from other states into Massachusetts doctors, and expanded access to contraception. But even though reproductive rights protections have expanded in Massachusetts, the post-Roe legal landscape in the U.S. is hazy, complicated, and yet-to-be determined. "It is a little bit of the wild west out there. Every state is doing something a little different," said Jennifer Childs-Roshak, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts. "With the deeply anti-choice states doing every- thing from criminalization to bounty laws, it is hard to know how to protect everybody all the time, but the current law really does help provide care to people in the state." Legislative action After the news outlet Politico published a draft decision of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the case that eventually overturned Roe v. Wade, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts immediately got to work. With partners Reproductive Equity Now and the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, the ACLU launched Massachusetts Beyond Roe, an agenda for abor- tion access and reproductive equity in the com- monwealth. Goals include expanding access to abortion and other reproductive health care, sup- porting providers and patients, and increasing research and education efforts. Several of the Massachusetts Beyond Roe agen- da items have already been implemented into leg- islation signed into law by Baker. On June 24, the same day Dobbs was released, the governor signed an executive order prohibit- ing any executive department agencies from assisting in another state's investigation into a person or entity receiving or giving reproductive health services legal in Massachusetts. The order protects Massachusetts healthcare providers from losing their licenses based on potential out-of- (Above) Carol Rose, executive director of the Massachusetts ACLU chapter, speaks in Boston after a draft of the Dobbs decision was leaked in May. (Upper right) A rally outside the Massachusetts State House in May, fol- lowing the leak of the Dobbs decision. PHOTO | LAURYN ALLEN

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