New Guide Takes Aim at Trump Administration’s Attack on Abortion Rights

Boston, MA – NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and the Pro-Choice Massachusetts Foundation today announced the release of the 2019 Guide to Abortion Care in Massachusetts to help women across the state access unbiased, fact-based information about abortion care.  

In February, Trump Administration officials announced new rules barring health care providers who receive Title X funding from providing referrals to women seeking abortions and forcing them to withhold medically-necessary information from patients. Title X is the federal family planning program providing low-income women access to affordable birth control, along with other critical health services.   

“Doctors in Massachusetts should be able to speak honestly with their patients about the full range of reproductive health care options,” said Rebecca Hart Holder, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and the Pro-Choice Massachusetts Foundation. “Women shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get the care they want and need.”  

The new rules were scheduled to take effect today; however, a federal court in Washington State issued a nationwide injunction, freezing any changes to the Title X program.  

“Every woman in Massachusetts should have the ability to make fully informed decisions about her health care with her health care provider,” said Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. “That’s why we sued to stop the Trump Administration’s unethical ‘gag rule’ that would prevent medical professionals at our Title X clinics from providing millions of low-income women with accurate and complete information about their health care. This guide will help women in our state access the reproductive services they need.”  

The 2019 Guide to Abortion Care in Massachusetts includes a comprehensive list of health care facilities in the state that offer abortion services. The guide contains an easy–to–read chart with information on facilities, locations, scope of services, and accepted payment types in order to help facilitate referrals. NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts released the guide in English and Spanish, both in-print and in a mobile-friendly version available at www.abortioncaremass.org. Portuguese versions of these resources are forthcoming. The guide will be distributed to Title X clinics, community health centers, campus health centers, domestic violence shelters, and other clinics across the Commonwealth. 

“The Trump/Pence Administration won’t stop until abortion is legal in name only,” said Hart Holder. “We are proud to help Bay Staters find abortion providers so that they can make decisions about their health free from government interference and bias.” 

In response to publication of the Guide, Senator Edward Markey issued the following statement: “A woman’s reproductive health decisions should be left up to a woman and her health care provider only, not the government and not Donald Trump. The malicious attempt by the Trump administration to deliberately hide information from patients who have a right to be counseled on every service that may suit her individual health care needs is not only unethical, but it is a direct infringement on the doctor-patient relationship. Now, more than ever, we need to stand up and raise our voice against the Trump administration’s agenda of discrimination and its attack on a woman’s right to choose. With the 2019 Guide to Abortion Care, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts has created a critical resource for women and health care providers to ensure that they have the unbiased information they need to make personal health care decisions free from the Trump administration’s interference.” 

“The stigmatization of reproductive justice is putting our families and our humanity at stake,” said Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. “Despite the dangerous, misguided, and inhumane attacks on women’s healthcare coming out of the White House, NARAL Massachusetts’ Guide guarantees that women in our Commonwealth will have the information they need to make informed, evidence-based decisions about their health and their bodies.” 

The 2019 Guide to Abortion Care in Massachusetts is part of a larger effort by NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts to ensure that anti-abortion politicians at home and in Washington D.C. cannot interfere with the right to choose. This work includes the groundbreaking ROE Act (S1209, H3320) which would reform the Commonwealth’s abortion laws ensuring that anyone, regardless of age, income, or insurance status, can access safe, legal abortion care.  

###