Today, Connecticut leaders, including Connecticut’s Governor Ned Lamont and Attorney General William Tong, lawmakers, and advocates called for urgent state action to protect telehealth abortion access following rapidly shifting federal court rulings in Louisiana et al. v. Food and Drug Administration. Watch the full press conference HERE.

With only one week left in the legislative session, reproductive rights advocates, medical professionals, and community leaders gathered today at the Connecticut General Assembly to press lawmakers to act now and pass critical reproductive health legislation.

Yesterday, Reproductive Equity Now’s Connecticut State Director, Liz Gustafson, testified in front of the Human Services Committee in support of both H.B. 5482, An Act Concerning Twelve Month Coverage for Contraception and Hormone Therapy, and H.B. 5483, An Act Concerning Fertility Care Under The Medicaid Program. These bills will increase access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care by ensuring that fertility care, a 12-month supply of hormonal birth control, and a 12-month supply of gender-affirming care are available to Connecticut residents enrolled in HUSKY, the state’s Medicaid program. Currently, the state mandates that only some private insurers cover these services. 

Yesterday, Reproductive Equity Now’s Connecticut State Director, Liz Gustafson, testified in front of the General Law Committee of the Connecticut Legislature in support of S.B. 227. This legislation will further protect the privacy, confidentiality, and safety of abortion and gender-affirming care providers by allowing medications prescribed for reproductive and gender-affirming health care services to be labeled with the name of the prescribing or dispensing practice, in place of the individual health care provider. Gustafson illuminated for the Committee why this measure, which mirrors laws in other key states with comprehensive “shield” protections for abortion and gender-affirming care providers, is urgently needed in the Nutmeg State. 

As the Trump Administration and anti-abortion actors across the nation ramp up attacks on abortion access, the Reproductive Equity Now Foundation announced today in a press conference, alongside Connecticut Attorney General William Tong and several hotline partners, the launch of an awareness campaign for the Abortion Legal Hotline in Connecticut. 

“As the first state in the country to pass a shield law, Connecticut knows firsthand the importance of protecting providers and patients seeking abortion and gender-affirming care with every tool available,” said Liz Gustafson, Connecticut State Director for Reproductive Equity Now. “The possibility that those protections could be circumvented by law enforcement agencies using Flock systems is extremely concerning. Tech companies are already functioning as surveillance infrastructure for the extremist anti-abortion movement, amassing data that has been used for pregnancy- and abortion-related investigations across the country. Any failure to safeguard personal data collected by third-party ALPRs directly conflicts with Connecticut’s clear commitment to protecting care.”