Gov. Maura Healey signs law that strengthens transgender, reproductive health care protections

Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald on Aug 7, 2025

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Gov. Maura Healey signed legislation Thursday that tightens rules governing what patient information technology service providers and state regulators can share with out-of-state entities and requires hospitals in the state to treat patients dealing with abortion-related emergencies.

Healey and legislative Democrats have argued the law is necessary to protect doctors in Massachusetts providing transgender and reproductive health care from legal repercussions filed in other states and a federal government that is targeting transgender people.

Healey said health care providers are “under attack, vicious attack” from entities in states where abortion-related services and transgender care have either been restricted or banned.

“They are reaching across state lines to target our very own providers,” the first-term Democrat said at the State House. “That is something that we will not stand for now or ever because in Massachusetts, we believe in freedom. Two hundred and fifty years ago, we invented freedom for this country, and we know that freedom includes the right to health care.”

The law Healey approved prohibits state or local authorities in Massachusetts from cooperating with any federal or out-of-state investigation into health care services that are legally protected here, including abortion services.

The statute prevents the Department of Public Health from collecting or disseminating personally identifiable data related to transgender or reproductive health care like a physician’s name.

It also bars technology service providers from honoring out-of-state or federal requests for documentation related to those health care services.

The Massachusetts Center for Health Information and Analysis and the Massachusetts Health Connector will no longer be able to provide information to other governments regarding “legally protected health care activities” in the Bay State.

The law also establishes that medical providers must conduct abortions during an emergency where the procedure is determined to be a “medical necessity.”

Sen. Cindy Friedman, an Arlington Democrat and key architect of the law, said people in Massachusetts should be able to decide what kind of health care they receive, not residents of other states.

“The legislation before the governor today is fundamentally about protecting our state from those outside who wish to decide how we in Massachusetts choose to deliver health care, and the values we decide should drive that care,” Friedman said.

Legislative leaders have pointed to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that upheld a Tennessee law banning puberty blockers and hormone treatments for transgender minors, as well as other efforts by states to restrict abortion medication or even punish doctors who prescribe those pills.

Nicole Smith, an OB-GYN at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said doctors providing reproductive and transgender health care are offering those services “at great personal risk.”

“Our patients are losing access to evidence-based care, and they’re frightened, and so are we. Unfortunately, those out-of-state threats have begun to impact providers and patients in Massachusetts who are worrying about how the care they provide here at home may threaten their safety, either in the future or if they travel out of state,” Smith said.

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