Repro Roundup 3.14
Exciting news! Tickets for Reproductive Equity Now’s Breaking Barriers 2025 Gala are now live, and we’d be honored to have you join us! With the Trump Administration wreaking havoc on reproductive health care, New England must lead the charge for reproductive freedom. Bold state-based leadership is more important than ever. We need a strong regional movement to combat the ongoing attacks from anti-abortion extremists – and we need to celebrate the good work our movement continues to do to defend reproductive freedom, equity, and bodily autonomy.
May 15, 2025
InterContinental Hotel
510 Atlantic Ave, Boston
6 PM Cocktail Hour | Seated Dinner and Program to Follow
reproequitynow.org/2025gala
Business Attire
We are excited to honor a slate of trailblazing leaders working to ensure New England remains a beacon for abortion access and reproductive equity. Our honorees include Massachusetts shield law abortion providers, Connecticut Attorney General William Tong, Preconceived creators Heather and Sabrine Keane, and the Connecticut Sun WNBA team!
We look forward to celebrating our incredible movement on May 15th. See you at the InterContinental!
On to this week’s headlines –
News from New England
→ New Poll: Voters in Massachusetts Support Protecting Abortion Throughout Pregnancy!
Massachusetts voters have spoken! New polling from the Reproductive Equity Now Foundation and EMC research shows that 66% of voters support expanding abortion access after 24 weeks based on the professional judgment of a licensed physician. Right now, Massachusetts law includes an arbitrary 24-week restriction on abortion care. Despite progress made to expand access to abortion later in pregnancy in the ROE Act and again in 2022, dozens of patients are still being forced to leave Massachusetts every year for abortion care later in pregnancy. That’s why we’re working to pass the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, which will ensure that decisions about pregnancy stay between a patient and their doctor.
→ We’re fighting for New Hampshire to explicitly protect the right to abortion care
We were proud to join our partners in New Hampshire to fight for SB 260, the Senate companion legislation to HCR 7 that would affirm the right to abortion care in New Hampshire. Our Senior Director of Policy and Programs, Claire, testified in support of this crucial legislation at Tuesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. Right now, New Hampshire is the only state in New England where abortion is not a protected right, and just this year alone, anti-abortion legislators in New Hampshire tried to ban abortion at 15 weeks, are trying to ban traveling for abortion care, and are trying to pass other legislation that will restrict access to abortion care. That’s why we have to pass this resolution to affirm abortion as basic health care and a human right.
→ Supporting Birth Centers and Midwives in Massachusetts
The Good News: We are proud to be members of the Bay State Birth Coalition, and alongside our coalition partners, we are fighting to pass SD.1596/HD.2842, An Act promoting and enhancing the sustainability of birth centers and the midwifery workforce. Our partners at Bay State Birth Coalition have created an easy form to contact your legislators and urge them to cosponsor this important legislation that will help build upon last year’s victory for maternal health!
We are also excited to see that last week, the Board of Midwifery was sworn in and held their first meeting, an exciting development in the implementation process of last year’s maternal health omnibus. The Department of Public Health has also published new birth center regulations, which will help more birth centers open across the Bay State.
The Bad News: After nearly 10 years of planning, Boston’s Zoning Board recently rejected a plan for the Neighborhood Birth Center to build their facility in Roxbury. The Neighborhood Birth Center was poised to become the second birth center in Massachusetts, providing essential out-of-hospital birthing options for people in the Greater Boston area. Repro Equity Now is working to support the Neighborhood Birth Center as they appeal this decision. You can help by sharing this week’s Boston Globe editorial urging the Zoning Board to reconsider their decision.
→ Beyond 2025: Critical Conversations on Reproductive Equity
Our Massachusetts State Director Lyv presented at the Boston University School of Social Work Beyond 2025 Action Hub conversation on Reproductive Justice this week! In response to Project 2025, the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health at Boston University School of Social Work launched the Beyond 2025 Action Hub, an initiative that invites participants to engage with courage and action to uphold dignity, justice, and democracy. Lyv spoke at Beyond 2025’s Critical Conversation on the future of organizing for reproductive health and equity in the states and how New England is responding to attacks from across the country and the federal government.
→ UNH Law School’s If/When/How Conversation on Comstock
Our Policy Counsel Jaime joined students from the Franklin Pierce Law School at the University of New Hampshire for a conversation on the threats posed by the Comstock Act, hosted by the UNH chapter of If/When/How Law Students for Reproductive Justice. Jaime illustrated how the growing threat of the Comstock Act demands bold state action, and how New England can serve as a beacon for abortion access as anti-abortion extremists gain ground in the federal government.
→ We’re Fighting to Expand Equitable Access to Fertility Treatment in Connecticut!
Our Connecticut State Director, Liz, testified in front of the Connecticut Legislature’s Human Services Committee in support of Raised Bill 7022, which would expand access to fertility care coverage under Connecticut’s Medicaid Program, HUSKYHealth. In order to achieve true reproductive equity for Nutmeggers, we must ensure that all people have access to the resources and technologies they need to start a family when they choose to.
Legislative Dispatch: News you need to know from the state capitols
→ Hartford, CT
Abortions sought by out-of-state patients in CT remaining steady: The number of abortions in Connecticut increased slightly from 2023 to 2024, with the average number of monthly abortions rising by 25, an increase of 2%. But the number of abortions provided to out-of-state patients in Connecticut, while still a small fraction, also increased slightly, from 4% to 6%.
Bill would allow ‘baby boxes’ for parents to relinquish infants: A bill that would allow for the installation of so-called “baby boxes” — temperature-controlled chambers with bassinets, installed in the exterior walls of places like hospitals where mothers can anonymously relinquish their infants — could unleash a slew of safety, legal, and ethical issues in a state where infant abandonment is exceedingly rare.
→ Beacon Hill, MA
Early ed sector aims to protect gains, build on them: After record public investments into the early education and care sector last year, the industry is "in a good place, not a great place," one of its key advocates said Tuesday, and they're asking for more.
Free prenatal vitamins, birth control will be available under Mass. state health plans: Eligible MassHealth members and Health Safety Net patients will have access to prenatal vitamins and over-the-counter birth control at no cost, under two standing orders that the Healey administration announced Thursday.
→ Concord, NH
Bills advance to ban gender-affirming care and allow discrimination against the trans community: The House Health, Human Services, and Elderly Affairs Committee held public hearings on HB 377 and HB 712, a pair of bills restricting access to gender-affirming surgeries and medications for trans youth. The House Judiciary Committee also voted in favor of an anti-trans “bathroom bill,” which would restrict access to public restrooms that match the gender identity of trans Granite Staters. This bill heads to the House for a full floor vote in the coming weeks.
Republicans push Medicaid work requirements through the New Hampshire Senate: The New Hampshire Senate voted on party lines, 16-8, Thursday to approve a Republican-backed work requirement plan for Medicaid — the latest in a series of proposals that could dramatically alter the Medicaid landscape in the Granite State. Senate Bill 134 seeks to require that New Hampshire Medicaid recipients work in order to receive health care through the program.
The New Hampshire Senate voted to advance the Momnibus 2.0 to the Finance Committee! This will give the Momnibus 2.0 a path to inclusion in the next state budget. We are thrilled to see this victory for maternal health care!
National Notice
→ The 19th: The reality of navigating immigration enforcement and abortion bans as a pregnant migrant
Feminist news outlet The 19th published an eye-opening report on the experience of navigating pregnancy care and abortion care as the Trump Administration aggressively increases immigration enforcement. The article highlights how pregnant immigrants might refrain from seeking pregnancy care or abortion care for fear of hospitals reporting their immigration status to ICE. This story helps illuminate the relationship between reproductive equity and immigrant justice, and reminds us that the fight for abortion access and comprehensive pregnancy and birth care is fundamentally intertwined with the fight for safe communities and protections for all, regardless of people’s citizenship status.
→ Trump Administration Drops Suit to Protect EMTALA and Emergency Abortion Care
The Biden Administration had sued the state of Idaho over its extreme abortion ban, claiming that the ban violates the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) with its restrictions on emergency abortion care. This month, the Trump Administration dropped the federal government’s suit against the state of Idaho over its ban, which would pave the way for the state to refuse patients emergency abortion care. A hospital system in Idaho continues on as a plaintiff, so the case will still be considered by the courts.
→ Washington Post: Republican Medicaid cuts could shutter rural hospitals, maternity care
The recently-passed budget from the House of Representatives will almost certainly require cuts to Medicaid funding. These cuts will cause rural maternity wards in hospitals to shutter, leaving no birth care options for rural Americans. Rural maternity care is already an extremely fragile ecosystem of health care, with many wards closing over the last several decades – including in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. With this budget, anti-abortion Republicans in Congress are poised to fully dismantle maternity care across the nation, particularly targeting folks who already have limited access to pregnancy care.
Get Involved!
📍BOSTON! Join us for back-to-back Lobby Days at the State House!
On March 18th, we will be at the State House in support of Common Start child care budget priorities, and the next day we’ll be back on Beacon Hill in support of the Protecting Our Immigrant Communities campaign! Email our Massachusetts State Director, Lyv, if you’d like to get involved in these Lobby Days!
📍HOLYOKE! LOWELL! Join Mass Alliance Grassroots Campaign Trainings
Mass Alliance just hosted their first of three grassroots campaign trainings, and there is still time to apply for the next two! These trainings will help young leaders develop the skills they need to launch a campaign for local office. Apply by March 21st for their April training in Holyoke, and apply by May 23rd for their June training in Lowell!
Our Resources
Need to understand your legal rights to provide or access abortion care? Reproductive Equity Now’s Abortion Legal Hotline will help connect Massachusetts and Connecticut-based health care providers and helpers, as well as patients obtaining care in Connecticut or Massachusetts, with free legal advice and resources about abortion access. This resource is now available in Spanish.
Looking for an abortion provider in your area? Our New England Abortion Care Guide allows you to search by zip code for legitimate abortion clinics near you. It even flags dangerous and deceptive anti-abortion centers to avoid at all costs. This resource is now available in Spanish.
Want to learn more about how to combat anti-abortion centers in your community? Check out Reproductive Equity Now’s guidebook on anti-abortion centers to understand how anti-abortion centers use deceptive practices to target patients seeking abortion care, and get the tools you need to organize against them.
Thank you so much for powering this fight. We’re grateful to have you in the movement with us.
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