The Healey Government on Wednesday announced a series of emergency measures to strengthen access to reproductive health care and protect nurses who support and provide reproductive health care.
The move by the state Department of Public Health’s Board of Nursing Registration comes with less than two weeks until the White House transition and amid continued concerns about the new Trump administration’s transition. Moves to restrict access to abortion still possible.
The state oversight board unanimously voted Wednesday to change the language of the state shield law into a state regulation, the administration said in a statement.
- read more: Massachusetts Governor Healey: Supreme Court abortion ruling leaves pregnant women ‘at a loss’
The law, adopted in 2022 under former Gov. Charlie Baker, provides protections for out-of-state investigations and prosecutions, professional discipline, and civil liability for health care providers. According toanalysis By UCLA’s Center for Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy.
The language adopted Wednesday protects nurses “from loss of license and board discipline for providing or assisting in the provision of reproductive health care services in Massachusetts,” the administration said.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said the move builds on abortion access protections the state adopted after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, and said the move would expand access to abortion. He said the debate has effectively returned to statehouses across the country.
“At a time when attacks on reproductive health care and health care providers are intensifying across the country, we are proud to take action to further strengthen these protections,” Healey said in a statement. mentioned in.
“In Massachusetts, we will always protect people’s rights and freedoms and ensure everyone has access to the quality health care they need,” the Democratic governor said.
- read more: Governor Healey issues order protecting emergency abortion care in Massachusetts.
During last year’s election campaign, Republican Trump said he would veto the federal abortion ban Once someone gets to their desk. President Trump praised the high court’s ruling and argued that regulating access to abortion should be left up to states.
But reproductive rights advocates and Democrats on Capitol Hill remain skeptical that President Trump will keep his promise.
They argued that his veto pledge could be a waypoint on the path to a nationwide ban.
They point to Project 2025, a conservative governing document written by President Trump’s aides and allies that “erases sexual and reproductive health and rights.” According to an analysis by the Guttmacher Institute.
State Surgeon General Dr. Robbie Goldstein said nurses, who are often on the front lines of such care, need not be afraid to “do the right thing,” adding that officials are “working with health care workers across the state.” We will continue to work together in solidarity.” , remove barriers to critical, lifesaving health care and services and protect the people who bravely provide this critical care. ”
- read more: Massachusetts Governor Healey hits back at President Trump over abortion comments
Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll echoed similar sentiments, saying, “Nurses and other health care providers should not fear punishment or legal action for providing essential health care.”
Wednesday’s action by the state Board of Oversight “further ensures that Massachusetts remains a place where comprehensive reproductive health care services, including abortion care, are available to everyone,” Driscoll said. .
