Mass. Democrats rally behind bill to 'fortify' protections for transgender, reproductive health care
Published in Health & Fitness
BOSTON — Top Democrats in the Massachusetts Senate pledged to advance sweeping legislation Monday that they argue protects reproductive and transgender health care from “attacks” by entities in other states where some practices have been deemed illegal under local laws.
The proposal, filed by Sen. Cindy Friedman of Arlington and Attorney General Andrea Campbell, targets medical record sharing laws, protections for health care professionals who have been disciplined outside Massachusetts, and the ability for state agencies to cooperate with federal law enforcement investigations.
Friedman said the law is necessary to “protect Massachusetts residents as the Trump administration instills additional fears of retribution and punishment for those seeking care they need and those that help them get that care.”
“The bill unveiled today ensures that Massachusetts will remain a state where residents, patients, and providers can safely receive and provide essential health care,” Friedman said in a statement.
The Senate is expected to formally admit the bill Monday, one of the first steps in the legislative process. Both branches will need to agree to send it to a committee for consideration. Friedman filed the bill April 7.
Democratic leaders in the Senate said the legislation is the first in a series that will respond to actions taken by President Donald Trump’s administration.
Under the bill, state agencies would be restricted from cooperating with or providing information for federal or out-of-state investigations or inquiries into health care activity legally protected in Massachusetts, including transgender and reproductive care.
Democrats argued that sharing data with the federal government and “other entities could put patients and Massachusetts providers at risk — especially those accessing, prescribing, or dispensing medications related to reproductive or gender-affirming care.”
The legislation requires companies that keep patients’ electronic medical records to limit out-of-state entities’ access to records that include information about someone’s reproductive or transgender care.
The bill also makes it illegal for insurance companies to “discriminate” against non-profit organizations that offer reproductive and transgender care to individuals in Massachusetts.
Senate President Karen Spilka said the legislation makes “it very clear that the Massachusetts Senate will not back down when it comes to protecting our residents and defending our values.”
“Our residents — indeed all Americans — deserve the right to make their own health care decisions in consultation with their providers, and this bill protects the entire ecosystem that allows those decisions to take place,” the Ashland Democrat said in a statement.
Democrats also wrote in restrictions for local boards of health or registration’s ability to display disciplinary action on a health professional’s public profile or revoke their license based on action taken in another state.
The proposal bars local licensing boards from revoking, suspending, or canceling a health professional’s license, fining them, or censuring them for providing reproductive or transgender health care services if the services would have been legal “and consistent with the standard of conduct” in Massachusetts.
Democrats want to prohibit health boards from making public any record of a criminal conviction, felony charge, serious misdemeanor, disciplinary action, or malpractice court judgment that stemmed from producing transgender or reproductive health care if the services would have been legal and consistent with standard practices in the Bay State.
The measure also bars health boards from taking “adverse action” on an application for a health professional’s registration or license based on criminal, civil, or disciplinary action by an out-of-state licensing board that stems from health care services that would have been legal and consistent with standard practices in Massachusetts.
Lawmakers want to require hospitals to provide emergency services, including emergency abortions, to any person who presents themselves at their facilities or is brought to the hospital by first responders.
Campbell said the bill builds upon a law the Legislature passed in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the constitutional right to abortions.
“Nearly three years ago, in the wake of the Dobbs decision, the Massachusetts Legislature led the nation by enacting legislation to protect patients and providers of reproductive and gender-affirming care,” Campbell said in a statement. “I applaud their example and am proud to cosponsor legislation that builds upon that law by protecting providers, patients, and helpers further, while ensuring that Massachusetts remains a beacon for reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights.”
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