State house News Service | Top officials worried about health care access, funding

By Alison Kuznitz | Originally Published by State House News Service

BOSTON, NOV. 14, 2024.....Attorney General Andrea Campbell, readying her office and Massachusetts for potential threats posed by Donald Trump's win, told health regulators Thursday she's concerned about preserving access to reproductive and gender-affirming care.

Campbell's remarks followed Gov. Maura Healey's recent reassurances about abortion protections in Massachusetts, and came after she criticized Trump's controversial selection Wednesday for attorney general. Healey made her abortion comments before Trump announced now-former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz as his AG pick, a nomination that the governor said Thursday should be "withdrawn immediately."

When asked about the threat of a national abortion ban last week, Healey touted the commonwealth's own abortion shield law, which the Legislature passed in 2022 to protect providers and patients, including those traveling here from other states, from legal action in the aftermath of the Supreme Court striking down Roe v. Wade. Campbell praised the shield law on Thursday too, but said her office intends to review that law and others to see if they need any adjustments to withstand potential challenges.

"We, of course, are absolutely worried about protecting access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care, gender-affirming care. We want to continue to do the work of addressing the maternal health disparities we see, not only of course, in our Black communities and with Black women, but also in our poorest communities, including in rural communities," Campbell said during a Health Policy Commission hearing Thursday morning.

When asked how his administration may adjust Medicaid dollars, Healey separately told reporters Thursday she's worried about the impact of the Trump presidency on federal health care dollars. 

"There's going to be a new administration, so we're going to watch that closely and do everything that we can to ensure access to care," Healey said. "I mean, Massachusetts, look, we're the state that, by law, (has) universal access to health care. That's not going away. But it's also the case that all states rely on federal funding. So I hope they don't, I hope they don't do that. I hope they don't take that away, because you're putting lives at risk, not just in Massachusetts, but around the country."

Campbell at the hearing warned that officials' work to address health care access and cost challenges could now be "unraveled" by a Trump administration. She later noted that Trump's AG nominee supports a national abortion ban - Gaetz in 2021 co-sponsored a national ban once "cardiac activity" could be detected, which typically happens around six weeks of pregnancy, according to KFF Health News. 

"It can be unraveled not only from the lack of transparency, from those who are coming into this space and who don't necessarily believe in transparency, those who want to change significantly legislation at the federal level or policy at the federal level that will hinder access to this critical care, those who demonize certain populations of folks, including our LGBTQ+ community, our trans youth, and how that threatens access to gender-affirming care and other necessary care we know is important," Campbell said at the hearing.

Trump has said he does not support a federal abortion ban, saying the policy must be left to states to decide.

Giving a shout-out at the hearing to Sen. Cindy Friedman, who spearheaded the Legislature's shield law, Campbell said Massachusetts was the first state in the country to pass such an act. Campbell said Massachusetts also boasts the "strongest shield law to protect our patients and providers."

"And we're going back to the table to make sure that is strong, and other laws and regulations are strong in the face of what might come," Campbell said without detailing any shortcomings in the shield law, which the state's top public health official has also promoted amid the uncertainties posed by Trump's presidency.

A Campbell spokesperson did not answer News Service questions about what provisions in the shield law need to be strengthened.

The advocacy organization Reproductive Equity Now warned Wednesday that anti-abortion politicians and activists have a "close and personal ally" in Gaetz. The group pointed to Gaetz's record of voting against legislation to protect abortion care, voting in favor of restrictions on abortion care, and calling abortion activists "fat and ugly."

"We have serious and legitimate reason to believe that Matt Gaetz will carry out Donald Trump and J.D. Vance’s plan to decimate abortion access nationwide by utilizing the power of the Department of Justice to enforce the Comstock Act," Reproductive Equity Now President Rebecca Hart Holder said. "We call on the Senate to do their due diligence, recognize the threat that Gaetz poses to abortion access, and protect the American people from an extremist politician who is unfit to serve as the top prosecutorial authority of this nation."

Without mentioning him by name, Campbell began her remarks at the HPC's annual cost trends hearing by condemning the prospect of Gaetz becoming the country's top law enforcement official.

"This was and is an individual who was under investigation for allegations of sexual abuse, including of minors, an individual who was a Holocaust denier, an individual who supports a national ban on abortions with no exceptions, an individual that wants to revoke federal funding to nonprofit organizations, that for example, assist migrants who are already here in the United States," Campbell said. "And the list goes on, and it's not even January yet. Across the country, state attorneys general will be on the frontlines to protect the rule of law and our fundamental rights and freedoms, including access to high-quality health care, reproductive health care, gender-affirming care, behavioral health services and closing maternal health disparities."

Healey called Trump's nomination of Gaetz a "terribly unserious appointment."

"It should be withdrawn immediately," the governor said. "A number of Republicans have already spoken about this, and as somebody who is a former law enforcement official and attorney general, I find it totally unserious and appalling. And Donald Trump should withdraw that immediately."

The governor also questioned the next steps for Gaetz.

"I don't see how you confirm somebody who's the subject of criminal investigations, who has zero experience in law enforcement, zero experience as a government attorney or prosecutor, and has said and done things that are antithetical to the United States Constitution and any number of laws," she said.

[Colin A. Young contributed reporting.]