WWLP | Governor signs executive order protecting access to emergency abortions

By Olivia Ray | Originally Published on WWLP News 22

BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) – Governor Healey signed an executive order Monday, protecting access to emergency abortions in the Commonwealth.

On the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision on Monday, which overturned Roe v. Wade and significantly limited abortion access in the United States, Governor Maura Healey signed an Executive Order.

This order protects the right to emergency abortion care in Massachusetts. It specifies that Massachusetts law provides a right to emergency healthcare, regardless of ability to pay, and it protects providers and pharmacists from professional licensure consequences.

“This executive order will continue to make Massachusetts a beacon for reproductive healthcare in a post-Roe world, no matter what the U.S. Supreme Court does. This executive order will save lives,” says President of Reproductive Equity Now Rebecca Hart Holder.

Last summer, Governor Healey stockpiled a widely available abortion pill, Mifepristone, in anticipation of a Supreme Court ruling banning access. She says Massachusetts will continue to stockpile this medication for the foreseeable future. She also told onlookers that she would not be enforcing a state-wide or national abortion ban, should one come into effect.

Healey stated, “I won’t put a dime or any energy or effort or personnel into enforcing laws that are a direct violation of freedom and women’s freedom and autonomy and the right to make decisions for themselves, and the right to access needed healthcare.”

This executive order comes ahead of a Supreme Court case, Idaho v. United States, which could prevent pregnant people from receiving emergency life-saving abortions. The Supreme Court decision is expected to be passed down within the week.