Patch | New Abortion Legal Hotline Connects MA Patients, Providers With Advice

By Chris Rhatigan
Story Originally Appeared

BOSTON, MA — The opening of the Abortion Legal Hotline was announced Monday, which will connect Massachusetts-based healthcare providers and patients with free legal advice and resources on abortion access and care.

The new hotline comes as states across the country have sought to limit women's access to abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Roe vs. Wade decision in June.

Staff members and volunteers will connect hotline callers with attorneys trained to answer their questions, according to Reproductive Equity Now.

Last summer, then-Gov. Charlie Baker signed sweeping abortion protections into law. The legislation protected reproductive rights for Massachusetts residents as well as those around the country. The bill was written to protect patients and providers who receive abortion care in Massachusetts from criminal prosecutions and lawsuits from states such as Texas that endorse extraterritorial jurisdiction, according to MassLive.

The hotline was announced at an event Monday in Boston at Attorney General Andrea Campbell's office, which included U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Reps. Katherine Clark and Ayanna Pressley, the Reproductive Equity Now Foundation, the Women’s Bar Foundation, the ACLU of Massachusetts, and five major law firms, according to a statement.

Defending reproductive rights was one of Campbell's leading issues during her run for attorney general last year. She took office earlier this month.

"In Massachusetts, we will always stand up for reproductive and abortion rights and protect the right for each and every person to decide whether, when, and how to have and parent a child," Campbell tweeted.

More information about the hotline is available from Reproductive Equity Now.