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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1854 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1114
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Rebecca L. Rausch
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act enhancing access to abortion care.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Rebecca L. RauschNorfolk, Worcester and MiddlesexJason M. LewisFifth Middlesex2/9/2023Vanna Howard17th Middlesex2/28/2023 1 of 5
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1854 FILED ON: 1/20/2023
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1114
By Ms. Rausch, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1114) of Rebecca L. Rausch, Jason
M. Lewis and Vanna Howard for legislation to enhance access to abortion care. The Judiciary.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act enhancing access to abortion care.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition,
2is hereby amended in section 12F by striking out, in lines 14 and 15, the words “have come in
3contact with” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- be at risk of contracting; and
4further amended by inserting after the word “diagnosis”, in line 18, the following word:- ,
5prevention; and further amended by striking out the third paragraph.
6 SECTION 2. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section 12I
7by adding at the end thereof the following sentence:- No conscientious objection shall be valid if
8an abortion is required to preserve the life of a pregnant person and no medical staff other than
9the objector are available to perform or support the performance of the abortion.
10 SECTION 3. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section 12K
11by striking out the word “12R” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- 12R.4; and
12further amended by adding the following definitions:- 2 of 5
13 “Abortion-related care”, a medically appropriate service complementary to the
14performance of an abortion.
15 “Provider”, a licensed health care professional who, acting within their scope of practice,
16may lawfully perform an abortion or provide abortion-related care.
17 “Provider facility”, a structure in which a provider performs abortions or provides
18abortion-related care.
19 SECTION 4. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section 12L
20by inserting after each instance of the word “abortion” the following words:- or abortion-related
21care; and further amended by striking the word “is” and inserting in place thereof the word:- are.
22 SECTION 5. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section
2312M by striking the words “physician, physician assistant, nurse practitioner or nurse midwife”
24and inserting in place thereof the following word:- provider.
25 SECTION 6. Said chapter 112, as so appearing and as amended by Chapter 127 of the
26Acts of 2022, is hereby further amended in section 12N by striking the word “physician” in each
27instance and inserting in place thereof the following word:- provider.
28 SECTION 7. Said chapter 112, as amended by Chapter 127 of the Acts of 2022, is hereby
29further amended in section 12N½ by striking the word “physician” in each instance and inserting
30in place thereof the following word:- provider.
31 SECTION 8. Section 12O of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby repealed.
32 SECTION 9. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section 12P
33by striking the second sentence. 3 of 5
34 SECTION 10. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section
3512Q by striking the words “performed by a physician, physician assistant, certified nurse
36practitioner or certified nurse midwife”.
37 SECTION 11. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking
38out section 12R and inserting in place thereof the following sections:-
39 Section 12R. A provider must obtain a pregnant person’s written informed consent prior
40to performing an abortion in a multilingual form prescribed by the commissioner of the
41department of public health, and the pregnant person must execute said informed consent form
42prior to receiving an abortion, except: (1) in an emergency, when an abortion is required to
43preserve the health of the pregnant person, in which case the provider may perform the abortion
44without an executed informed consent form; or (2) when a pregnant person is incapacitated due
45to vegetative state, and said pregnant person was incapacitated prior to and at all times during the
46pregnancy, and another person serves as legally valid health care proxy for the pregnant person,
47in which case the health care proxy must execute the informed consent form. A pregnant
48person’s signature on the consent form shall not be deemed invalid due to the pregnant person’s
49age. No waiting period shall be imposed between the execution of the consent form and the
50performance of the abortion. Providers shall maintain executed informed consent forms for a
51period of time and in a manner consistent with retention of other medical records.
52 (b) The consent form and any other forms or related documents shall be confidential and
53shall not be released to any person other than the patient, the person whose consent is validly
54obtained pursuant to this section or any other applicable state or federal law, or the provider who
55performed the abortion, except by the patient’s written informed consent or proper judicial order. 4 of 5
56 Section 12R.1. (a) No pregnant person shall be required, as a precondition to receiving
57health-related information, health services or medical care, to: (i) wait for any period of time,
58beyond the standard of care or as may be operationally necessary, after executing the informed
59consent form required by this chapter to initiate an abortion or abortion-related care; (ii) undergo
60an ultrasound inconsistent with the standard of care; (iii) review, see, or hear the results of an
61ultrasound; (iv) appear at a provider facility for purposes of receiving an abortion or abortion-
62related care more frequently or for a longer duration than is consistent with the standard of care;
63or (v) receive counseling or information in any format or medium that is medically inaccurate,
64medically unnecessary, or misleading.
65 (b) Provider facilities shall not be required to: (i) affiliate in any way with, or be
66constructed within a specified distance of, a hospital, as defined in section 52 of chapter 111; (ii)
67construct or maintain medically unnecessary physical structures, sizes, or spaces; (iii) hire only
68providers with admitting privileges at a hospital, as defined in section 52 of chapter 111; or (iv)
69comply with any other medically unnecessary physical or operational standards or requirements.
70Provider facilities shall be required to comply or substantially comply with the licensure
71requirements for clinics providing ambulatory surgery, consistent with section 51 of chapter 111,
72only if the provider facility otherwise operates as a free standing ambulatory surgical center.
73 (c) The attorney general shall enforce this section, provided that nothing herein shall
74preclude a private right of action asserting violations thereof. All actions must be commenced
75within ten years after the cause of action accrues. 5 of 5
76 Section 12R.2. (a) The department of public health shall publish on its website and in
77print copy a listing of provider facilities opting to be included on said listing. The listing shall be
78updated annually, or more frequently as required or requested by a provider or provider facility.
79 (b) The department of public health shall engage in a culturally competent and
80linguistically diverse public education campaign to educate providers and the public about so-
81called crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers, including without limitation the
82lack of medical services or licensed medical professionals at said centers and the availability of
83licensed medical and family planning services across the commonwealth.
84 (c) The department of veterans services shall, in consultation with the department of
85public health, provide information to veterans residing in the commonwealth and their families
86regarding available abortion services and support for obtaining those services, including without
87limitation financial assistance provided pursuant to chapter 118E.
88 Section 12R.3. A person may not provide ultrasound services pertaining to a possible or
89actual pregnancy except under the supervision of a provider or other licensed health care
90professional who, acting within their scope of practice, provides medical care for people who are
91pregnant or may become pregnant.
92 Section 12R.4. A health care professional working in a school based health center shall
93keep confidential any abortion-related information or care provided to a patient at the center.