The Massachusetts Senate is promoting legislation to protect the personal information of those who receive or administer reproductive and gender-affirming care in Massachusetts, the first action it has taken as part of its new effort to push back on the Trump administration’s changes.
Leaders in the Senate announced at the beginning of the month they were launching a “Response 2025’’ initiative to push back on the dramatic policy changes unleashed by the Trump administration. The health care bill, filed last week by Senator Cindy Friedman, an Arlington Democrat, is the first tangible effort the Senate has made to respond to Trump as his administration has rolled back protections and funding related to abortion and transgender care.
This new bill, if passed, would prevent state agencies from sharing personal information of anyone “engaged in the provision, facilitation, or promotion’’ of reproductive or gender-affirming care as part of federal investigations or probes launched by other states. It would also require companies that maintain electronic medical records to limit out-of-state access to records related to those types of procedures.
The legislation also would protect Massachusetts health care professionals and lawyers from having their licenses targeted by other states for giving care or protecting those who engaged in it. It would make it illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against organizations that offer these types of health care. And it would require hospitals to provide necessary emergency services to anyone appearing for emergency care.
“This bill makes it very clear that the Massachusetts Senate will not back down when it comes to protecting our residents and defending our values,’’ Senate President Karen Spilka wrote in a statement announcing the bill. “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.’’
In 2022, Massachusetts lawmakers passed the “Shield Law,’’ following the repeal of Roe v. Wade, a first-of-its-kind law that protects residents and providers from facing civil or criminal punishments related to abortion or gender-affirming care. That law, for instance, prohibits Massachusetts law enforcement officials from helping other states investigate protected health care activity.
While Trump has said he would not support a federal abortion ban, his administration has taken actions to roll back support for the procedure. In January, he signed an executive order to “end the use of federal taxpayer dollars to fund or promote elective abortion,’’ and rescinded Biden-era orders expanding abortion and contraception access.
They have also changed their legal strategy, dropping one case where the Biden administration sued Idaho over its abortion ban and instead, sought to join South Carolina’s effort to cut funding for Planned Parenthood services.
The Trump administration’s attacks on gender-affirming care, particularly for children, have been more direct, building on promises Trump made during his presidential campaign. Trump signed an executive order in January to stop federal support for gender transition procedures for people under 19, prompting a lawsuit in Massachusetts. His administration has also cut transgender care for veterans and ordered the National Institutes of Health to study “regret’’ among people who have transitioned.
Friedman, the bill author, called the Trump administration’s actions part of an “assault on necessary and legal health care,’’ saying lawmakers “must take action to further 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 legislation was crafted alongside Attorney General Andrea Campbell and Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, Friedman said. It has been endorsed by advocates including the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, GLAD Law, and Reproductive Equity Now — several of whom had backed similar legislation shortly after Trump was elected in November.
Anjali Huynh can be reached at anjali.huynh@globe.com.