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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2989 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1815
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Sally P. Kerans and 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.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Sally P. Kerans13th Essex1/16/2025Lindsay N. Sabadosa1st Hampshire1/21/2025Natalie M. Higgins4th Worcester1/28/2025Danillo A. Sena37th Middlesex1/31/2025Samantha Montaño15th Suffolk2/3/2025Manny Cruz7th Essex2/18/2025Susannah M. Whipps2nd Franklin2/18/2025Jennifer Balinsky Armini8th Essex2/18/2025David Paul Linsky5th Middlesex2/18/2025Marjorie C. Decker25th Middlesex2/18/2025Erika Uyterhoeven27th Middlesex2/20/2025Mary S. Keefe15th Worcester3/5/2025Adrianne Pusateri Ramos14th Essex3/11/2025Jay D. Livingstone8th Suffolk3/11/2025 1 of 7
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2989 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1815
By Representative Kerans of Danvers and Senator Rausch, a joint petition (accompanied by bill,
House, No. 1815) of Sally P. Kerans, Lindsay N. Sabadosa and others relative to further
regulating access to abortion care. The Judiciary.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
_______________
An Act enhancing access to abortion.
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 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition,
2is hereby amended by inserting the following section:-
3 Section 51M. (a) A hospital licensed under this chapter with an emergency care
4department shall provide emergency health services to any person who presents at the hospital in
5active labor or with an injury or acute medical condition that may cause death or severe harm to
6the individual’s health, including but not limited to serious impairment to one or more bodily
7functions, serious dysfunction of any bodily organ or part, a pregnant patient experiencing
8ectopic pregnancy, complications of pregnancy loss, risks to future fertility, previable preterm
9premature rupture of membranes, and emergent hypertensive disorders, such as preeclampsia.
10 (b) For purposes of this section, emergency health services shall include, but not be
11limited to, medical screening, the provision of necessary stabilizing treatment, procedures for
12refusals to consent, restricting transfers until the individual is stabilized, appropriate transfers of 2 of 7
13patients, nondiscrimination, no delay in examination or treatment, and whistleblower protections.
14Stabilizing treatment includes abortion when abortion is necessary to resolve the patient’s injury
15or acute medical condition.
16 (c) Annually, not later than September 1, every hospital licensed under this chapter with
17an emergency care department shall submit to the department a written report that includes the
18hospital’s policies, procedures and processes for providing services consistent with this section.
19 (d) A hospital or person violating any of the provisions of this section or refusing to
20perform any duties required by this section shall be subject to a fine not exceeding $50,000 for
21each violation. A hospital or person engaging in gross, flagrant, or repetitive violations of this
22section shall be subject to license revocation.
23 (e) An individual who suffers personal harm as a direct result of a violation of a
24requirement of this section may obtain damages in a court of competent jurisdiction.
25 (f) The department shall promulgate regulations to implement this section.
26 SECTION 2. Section 12F of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022
27Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 14 and 15, the words “have come in
28contact with” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- be at risk of contracting.
29 SECTION 3. Said section 12F of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further
30amended by inserting, in line 18, after the word “diagnosis” the following words:- , prevention.
31 SECTION 4. Said section 12F of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further
32amended by striking out the third paragraph. 3 of 7
33 SECTION 5. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section 12I
34by adding at the end thereof the following sentence:- No conscientious objection shall be valid if
35an abortion is required to preserve the life of a pregnant person and no medical staff other than
36the objector are available to perform or support the performance of the abortion.
37 SECTION 6. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section 12K
38by striking out, in line 1, the word “12R” and inserting in place thereof the following word:-
3912R.3.
40 SECTION 7. Said section 12K of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further
41amended by adding the following definitions:-
42 “Abortion-related care”, a medically appropriate service complementary to the
43performance of an abortion.
44 “Provider”, a licensed health care professional who, acting within their scope of practice,
45may lawfully perform an abortion or provide abortion-related care.
46 “Provider facility”, a structure in which a provider performs abortions or provides
47abortion-related care.
48 SECTION 8. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section 12L
49by inserting, in lines 4 and 5, after the word “abortion”, in each instance, the following words:-
50or abortion-related care.
51 SECTION 9. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section
5212M by striking out, in lines 1 and 2, the words “physician, physician assistant, nurse
53practitioner or nurse midwife” and inserting in place thereof the following word:- provider. 4 of 7
54 SECTION 10. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section
5512N by striking out, in lines 2 and 3, the word “physician” each time it appears and inserting in
56place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- provider.
57 SECTION 11. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section
5812N½ by striking out, in lines 3 and 5, the word “physician” each time it appears and inserting in
59place thereof, in each instance, the following word:- provider.
60 SECTION 12. Section 12O of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby repealed.
61 SECTION 13. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section
6212P by striking out the second sentence.
63 SECTION 14. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended in section
6412Q by striking out, in lines 2 and 3, the words “performed by a physician, physician assistant,
65certified nurse practitioner or certified nurse midwife”.
66 SECTION 15. Said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking
67out section 12R and inserting in place thereof the following sections:-
68 Section 12R. A provider must obtain a pregnant person’s written informed consent prior
69to performing an abortion in a multilingual form prescribed by the commissioner of the
70department of public health, and the pregnant person must execute said informed consent form
71prior to receiving an abortion, except: (1) in an emergency, when an abortion is required to
72preserve the health of the pregnant person, in which case the provider may perform the abortion
73without an executed informed consent form; or (2) when a pregnant person is incapacitated due
74to vegetative state, and said pregnant person was incapacitated prior to and at all times during the 5 of 7
75pregnancy, and another person serves as legally valid health care proxy for the pregnant person,
76in which case the health care proxy must execute the informed consent form. A pregnant
77person’s signature on the consent form shall not be deemed invalid due to the pregnant person’s
78age. No waiting period shall be imposed between the execution of the consent form and the
79performance of the abortion. Providers shall maintain executed informed consent forms for a
80period of time and in a manner consistent with retention of other medical records.
81 (b) The consent form and any other forms or related documents shall be confidential and
82shall not be released to any person other than the patient, the person whose consent is validly
83obtained pursuant to this section or any other applicable state or federal law, or the provider who
84performed the abortion, except by the patient’s written informed consent or proper judicial order.
85 Section 12R.1. (a) No pregnant person shall be required, as a precondition to receiving
86health-related information, health services or medical care, to: (i) wait for any period of time,
87beyond the standard of care or as may be operationally necessary, after executing the informed
88consent form required by this chapter to initiate an abortion or abortion-related care; (ii) undergo
89an ultrasound inconsistent with the standard of care; (iii) review, see, or hear the results of an
90ultrasound; (iv) appear at a provider facility for purposes of receiving an abortion or abortion-
91related care more frequently or for a longer duration than is consistent with the standard of care;
92or (v) receive counseling or information in any format or medium that is medically inaccurate,
93medically unnecessary, or misleading.
94 (b) Provider facilities shall not be required to: (i) affiliate in any way with, or be
95constructed within a specified distance of, a hospital, as defined in section 52 of chapter 111; (ii)
96construct or maintain medically unnecessary physical structures, sizes, or spaces; (iii) hire only 6 of 7
97providers with admitting privileges at a hospital, as defined in section 52 of chapter 111; or (iv)
98comply with any other medically unnecessary physical or operational standards or requirements.
99Provider facilities shall be required to comply or substantially comply with the licensure
100requirements for clinics providing ambulatory surgery, consistent with section 51 of chapter 111,
101only if the provider facility otherwise operates as a free standing ambulatory surgical center.
102 (c) The attorney general shall enforce this section, provided that nothing herein shall
103preclude a private right of action asserting violations thereof. All actions must be commenced
104within ten years after the cause of action accrues.
105 Section 12R.2. (a) The department of public health shall publish on its website and in
106print copy a listing of provider facilities opting to be included on said listing. The listing shall be
107updated annually, or more frequently as required or requested by a provider or provider facility.
108 (b) The department of public health shall engage in a culturally competent and
109linguistically diverse public education campaign to educate providers and the public about so-
110called crisis pregnancy centers and pregnancy resource centers, including without limitation the
111lack of medical services or licensed medical professionals at said centers and the availability of
112licensed medical and family planning services across the commonwealth.
113 (c) The department of veterans services shall, in consultation with the department of
114public health, provide information to veterans residing in the commonwealth and their families
115regarding available abortion services and support for obtaining those services, including without
116limitation financial assistance provided pursuant to chapter 118E.
117 Section 12R.3. A health care professional working in a school based health center shall
118keep confidential any reproductive health care information or services provided to a patient at the 7 of 7
119center, including but not limited to contraceptive counseling and abortion-related information or
120care.