House approves bill to protect reproductive, transgender care providers from out-of-state legal threats
Photo I Chris Lisinski/SHNS
Rep. Michael Day (left) and House Speaker Ron Mariano address reporters after a private Democratic caucus on Wednesday.
With one top Democrat invoking Yogi Berra's famous "déjà vu all over again" quote, the House on Wednesday approved the latest attempt to strengthen access to reproductive and transgender care in the face of out-of-state legal threats.
The House voted 136-23 to pass legislation (H 4271) that Democrats say would legally protect Bay Staters, and anyone who travels here for abortions or other care, from prosecution amid escalating opposition led by the Trump administration.
Democrat Reps. Colleen Garry of Dracut, Alan Silvia of Fall River and Jeffrey Turco of Winthrop voted no. Five Republicans supported the bill: House Minority Leader Brad Jones of North Reading and Reps. Kimberly Ferguson of Holden, David Vieira of Falmouth, Hannah Kane of Shrewsbury, and Donald Wong of Saugus.
Rep. John Lawn, a Watertown Democrat who was arrested near the State House for allegedly operating under the influence early Wednesday morning, did not vote on the bill. He appeared not to be present in the House Chamber during the afternoon deliberations.
Backers pitched the bill as a necessary update to a 2022 state law that similarly sought to erect a legal shield around reproductive and transgender health care.
House Speaker Ron Mariano said, without providing specific examples, that other state governments "have tried different alternatives to get at information that is going to be used against some people who have come here for help."
"We dealt with this expediently and as quickly as we could because it's important to us, and we want to be viewed as a welcoming state that's not going to allow doctors in any [other] state to involve themselves in medical decisions for people in our state," Mariano said.
In 2022, soon after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, the Legislature and Gov. Charlie Baker agreed on a new state abortion access law shielding providers from legal actions originating in other states.
Activists and many Democratic lawmakers have grown concerned since then that the law might not be strong enough to stave off opposition from the second Trump administration and emboldened Republican state officials elsewhere. Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice subpoenaed 20 unidentified doctors and clinics for information about "transgender medical procedures on children."
Rep. Michael Day, the Judiciary Committee co-chair whom Mariano has tapped as point person on much of the House's Trump response, told reporters that opponents of abortion and transgender care are using "different tributaries" to "get at the data and get at our residents."
"To paraphrase a quote attributed to one of America's preeminent philosophers, Yogi Berra, being here is like déjà vu all over again," Day said to kick off the House's debate. "Today, as we've done over and over and over again, we once again tell other states that women in Massachusetts are fully capable of making their own health care decisions. We once again affirm that our transgender population here in Massachusetts is in fact made up of individuals that will be afforded the same rights as every other resident."
The Senate approved a similar bill (S 2543) on June 26.
Both measures aim to protect against potential legal threats by limiting release of data that could be used to target patients and providers, allowing certain prescription labels to display a practice name instead of an individual physician's name, and enshrining at the state level a requirement for abortion care to be provided in emergencies when medically necessary.
"As they adjust their tactics, we will have to adjust ours," Mariano said. "It's like a game of chess or checkers."
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