Massachusetts... new shield law for abortion & trans health care

[Jessica_Rose]

Massachusetts lesbian Gov. Maura Healey signs new shield law for abortion & trans health care

https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/08/massachusetts-lesbian-gov-maura-healey-signs-new-shield-law-for-trans-health-care/

John Russell (7 Aug 2025)

At a ceremony at the Massachusetts State House Thursday, out Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed a recently passed law aimed at bolstering protections for providers of gender-affirming and reproductive care, including abortion.

As local station NBC 10 Boston notes, the measure passed last week when the Massachusetts House approved it by a 132–42 vote, with four state Democrats voting alongside Republicans in opposition. In the state Senate, only three Republicans voted against it.

"Massachusetts will always be a state where patients can access high-quality health care and providers are able to do their jobs without government interference," Healey said in a statement Thursday. "From the moment Roe was overturned, we stepped up to pass strong protections for patients and providers, and with President Trump and his allies continuing their assaults on health care, we're taking those protections to the next level. No one is going to prevent the people of Massachusetts from getting the health care they need."

The bill updates Massachusetts' 2022 Shield Act, which protects providers of reproductive and gender-affirming care from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions, and other liability, for providing or assisting patients in accessing such care, which is legal in the state. The law's passage came in response to the Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade.