Reproductive Equity Now applauds Governor Healey’s emergency action for Chapter 188 of the Acts of 2026, ensuring patients can access essential abortion care without further delay.
In the weeks between the bill’s signing and its effective date, at least nine Massachusetts patients were denied care the new law would have permitted.
Boston, MA (November 6, 2026) – Today, Reproductive Equity Now praised Governor Maura Healey for filing an emergency statement to allow Chapter 188, the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, to take effect immediately and ensure patients facing complex pregnancy circumstances or complications can access essential abortion care here in Massachusetts.
This emergency action responds to an urgent, ongoing health care crisis in Massachusetts. Reproductive Equity Now is aware of at least nine Massachusetts patients who, since the bill was signed into law on August 10, have faced devastating pregnancy complications and needed abortion care that was not available to them in the Commonwealth under the existing restrictions. While some were able to travel out of state to receive care, others were unable to do so.
With today’s emergency statement, Governor Healey has taken an important step toward fulfilling the promise of the law: ensuring that patients facing complex and often heartbreaking pregnancy circumstances can access the care they need, when they need it, without being forced to leave their communities, families, and trusted medical providers behind.
“Since the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act was signed into law in August, at least nine Massachusetts patients facing devastating pregnancy complications have been denied compassionate abortion care here in the Commonwealth while waiting for the law to take effect. Today, Governor Healey took decisive action to address this public health emergency, removing unnecessary delays and ensuring patients can access the care they need when they need it,” said Kathleen Melendy, Reproductive Equity Now’s Massachusetts State Director. “We are deeply grateful to Governor Healey for recognizing the urgency of this moment and taking action to put patients and personal choice first. Her leadership sends a clear message that Massachusetts will not stand by while patients are denied essential health care. Now, Massachusetts patients facing some of the most difficult moments of their lives will have greater access to the compassionate, individualized care they deserve, right here at home.”
Before the law’s passage, multiple Massachusetts abortion providers estimated encountering as many as one patient per month who was forced to travel out of state for care. With at least nine patients identified in less than three months, the number of patients affected may be significantly higher than previously estimated, underscoring the urgent need for the law to take effect.
For years, the Commonwealth’s restrictions on abortion later in pregnancy have forced patients experiencing devastating and complex medical circumstances to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles outside the state to access the care they need. Chapter 188 was passed by the Massachusetts Legislature and signed into law by Governor Healey on August 10 to address this very crisis by removing government-imposed barriers to care and allowing patients and their health care providers to make deeply personal medical decisions based on individual circumstances.
The Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act updates Massachusetts law to ensure that decisions about abortion care later in pregnancy are guided by the medical judgment of licensed physicians and the individual circumstances of their patients, rather than arbitrary government-imposed restrictions. The law reflects Massachusetts’ longstanding commitment to protecting reproductive freedom and ensuring patients can make personal medical decisions without political interference.
Reproductive freedom continues to garner broad support in Massachusetts. Recent polling shows that 77% of Massachusetts residents believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases, ranking Massachusetts second nationally in support for abortion rights, behind only Vermont (78%). Additionally, polling conducted by EMC Research found that two in three Massachusetts voters (66%) support expanding abortion access throughout pregnancy based on the professional judgment of a licensed physician, reaffirming Bay Staters’ belief that deeply personal medical decisions belong between patients and their doctors – not politicians. National research released this month further reinforces that support, finding that two-thirds of Americans (66%) would vote for a ballot measure protecting abortion access without gestational limits—virtually identical to support for measures containing viability restrictions.
Health care providers, reproductive health advocates, and community leaders across Massachusetts also praised Governor Healey’s decisive action, emphasizing the urgent need to ensure patients can access high-quality, compassionate care without unnecessary delays:
Kate Dineen, Later Abortion Patient & Reproductive Equity Now Board Member:
"In 2021, after receiving a devastating fetal diagnosis, I was forced to travel to Maryland to access compassionate—and costly—abortion care. While I was fortunate to have the resources to give my son peace, far too many people do not. No patient should ever have to flee the Commonwealth to receive reproductive health care that can and should be provided right here at home. I am profoundly grateful to Governor Healey for recognizing this urgency and taking decisive action so patients can access essential care when and where they need it. This is what we fought for: a Massachusetts where deeply personal medical decisions are made between patients and their doctors, without government interference."
Megan Evans, MD, MPH & Chair, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) in Massachusetts:
“We are deeply grateful to Governor Healey for taking swift action to ensure Chapter 188 of the Acts of 2026, the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, takes effect. As OB-GYNs, we know that patients facing complex and often heartbreaking pregnancy circumstances cannot afford to wait for essential medical care. Today’s action removes unnecessary delays and allows patients to make deeply personal medical decisions alongside their trusted physicians and medical teams, right here at home. This is how health care can and should work. We are grateful to the patients, providers, and advocates whose tireless efforts made this law possible, and to Governor Healey for recognizing the urgency of ensuring that Massachusetts patients can access the compassionate, individualized care they deserve, when they need it most.”
Chloe Zera, MD, MPH & Chair, Health Policy and Advocacy Committee, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine:
“The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine applauds Governor Healey’s decision to take emergency action to immediately implement Chapter 188 — the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act. As physicians specializing in high-risk pregnancies, we know that patients facing complex and often devastating pregnancy complications cannot afford delays in accessing essential medical care, including abortion care. This action allows physicians to make evidence-based clinical decisions in consultation with their patients, protecting the patient-physician relationship from unnecessary political interference. We are grateful to Governor Healey for recognizing the urgency of ensuring that patients can access safe, compassionate, and individualized care.”
Rebecca Brendel, MD, JD & President, Massachusetts Medical Society:
"Governor Healey heard the urgency from patients and physicians and acted. The Massachusetts Medical Society applauds her for ensuring that Chapter 188 takes effect as the legislature intended so that patients in the Commonwealth have immediate access to the care they need and deserve. Protecting reproductive health care means trusting patients and physicians to make complex, deeply personal decisions together, guided by evidence, medical standards of care, professional judgment, and each patient’s unique circumstances, as Chapter 188 now does. No patient should be forced to leave the Commonwealth to receive medically appropriate reproductive healthcare, including abortion. Today’s action helps make that promise real."
Carol McMurrich, Founder & Director, Empty Arms Bereavement Support:
“We know firsthand from the families we serve that every pregnancy is unique, and that decisions to end a deeply wanted pregnancy are often made under heartbreaking circumstances. Families facing devastating fetal diagnoses or serious maternal health complications must navigate testing, consultations, and difficult medical decisions, all of which take time. Medicine does not follow a legislative timetable, and no family should be denied compassionate care because of an arbitrary government deadline. We are deeply grateful to Governor Healey for recognizing this reality and taking emergency action to put Chapter 188 into effect immediately. This action means that more Massachusetts families facing some of the most devastating moments of their lives can access the individualized care they need, surrounded by their loved ones and trusted medical providers, right here at home.”
Lauren Bailey, Director of Organizing & Engagement, Catholics for Choice:
“Compassion, dignity, and respect for individual conscience should guide how we care for people facing some of the most difficult moments of their lives. No patient should be denied essential health care because of arbitrary government restrictions, especially when facing devastating pregnancy complications. As Catholics, we believe that individuals and families deserve the freedom to make deeply personal reproductive health decisions guided by their own faith, values, and trusted medical providers. We applaud Governor Healey for recognizing the urgency of this moment and taking decisive action to ensure Chapter 188 takes effect immediately. Today’s action reflects a commitment to compassion over political interference and affirms that no single religious belief should dictate the medical decisions of others.”
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