Reproductive Advocacy Groups Applaud House Effort to Protect Sensitive Location Data

BOSTON (July 9, 2024) — The Massachusetts House today introduced a bill intended to protect sensitive location data concerning reproductive and gender-affirming care services. The bill aims to protect reproductive freedom at a time when anti-abortion politicians, prosecutors, and more are using sensitive data to track, harass, and sue people seeking or providing care. 

Reproductive advocates praise House leadership for recognizing the danger for patients and for moving quickly to deal with this pressing challenge. This legislation represents crucial progress in advocates' ongoing work to ban the sale of cellphone location data statewide, which would block anti-abortion extremists from tracking who travels into Massachusetts for care, safeguard providers at home and in their daily lives, and protect all residents from dangerous intrusions into their private lives.

The ACLU of Massachusetts, Reproductive Equity Now, and the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts today released the following statements in response:

Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts: “Protecting digital privacy is key to protecting bodily autonomy and reproductive justice in the digital age. Massachusetts elected officials must continue to fight with renewed urgency to ensure that we the people maintain control over our most private and personal information. We thank House Speaker Mariano, Chair Michlewitz, and other Massachusetts lawmakers for recognizing what’s at stake this fall, responding to these threats, and moving this issue forward. We look forward to working with lawmakers in both chambers to fully ban the sale of cellphone location data to protect patients, providers, and all people.”

Rebecca Hart Holder, President of Reproductive Equity Now: “The Massachusetts Legislature has continually recognized the evolving threat to abortion patients and providers and has aggressively expanded access and protected care since the fall of Roe. In the two years post-Dobbs, hostile actors have targeted the location data of patients and providers in all 50 states, and now, we are increasingly concerned that this data will be weaponized against those seeking and providing care in Massachusetts. Today the House is making an important statement that we will not let that stand in our Commonwealth. We are proud that the House understands that abortion patients are not fully protected until their digital footprint is protected, too. We are optimistic about making progress to protect the deeply sensitive and personal information that location data can reveal about all of us.” 

Dominique Lee, President of the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts:  “We know that purchasing location data to target Planned Parenthood patients or providers is part of the anti-abortion playbook, not just in restrictive states but everywhere. To prevent this from happening in Massachusetts, we need to act. We are grateful to Speaker Mariano and Chairman Michlewitz for taking this step to deal with this pressing issue and make Massachusetts an even safer place for sexual and reproductive health care patients and providers." 

For more information about the Location Shield Act, go to: www.aclum.org/locationshield 

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