Current Legislation :: NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts

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Current Legislation

NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts is entering the 2011-2012 legislative session with a diminished, yet still present pro-choice majority in the State House of Representatives coupled with an increased majority in the State Senate. This session is critical to our efforts to use the political process to protect privacy and promote reproductive health. If you are interested in joining our grassroots movement and would like to be part of our efforts on Beacon Hill, please click here to volunteer.

Learn more about the legislation affecting reproductive choice in Massachusetts. Below is a list of legislation we are supporting and opposing in the 2011-2012 session.

Pro-Choice Legislation

Anti-Choice Legislation

Pro-Choice Legislation

An Act Relative to Updating the Laws to Protect Women’s Health

Bill Number:	H 515 / S 671 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
Sponsor(s):	Representatives Ellen Story & Byron Rushing and Senator Harriette Chandler

This bill would revoke three archaic and unconstitutional statutes – including a ban on all abortions without exception – that could jeopardize women’s health and well-being if they were ever enforced again. Learn more (pdf).

An Act Relative to Healthy Youth

Bill Number:	H 1063 / S 190 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on Education.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Jim O’Day and Senator Katherine Clark

This bill would ensure that schools offering sexuality education provide young people with age-appropriate, medically accurate information – including both instruction about abstinence and teaching about effective use of contraceptives to prevent pregnancy and protect against disease. For a snap shot of the bill click here (pdf). For an in-depth analysis click here (pdf).

An Act Relative to Consent and Counseling

Bill Number:	H 629 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 was heard by the Joint Committee on Public Health on May 10, 2011.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Ellen Story

This bill would help a young woman facing an unintended pregnancy get the support, guidance, and timely access to medical care she needs if she fears she cannot get seek her parent’s consent for an abortion. It would allow her to seek counseling from a trained medical professional in lieu of having to get a court order from a judge.It would also adjust the age of consent for terminating a pregnancy, bringing this law in line with other state statutes that give young people aged 16 and older the right to make sensitive medical decisions and other important life choices. Learn more (pdf).

An Act Relative to Safe Pregnancies and Related Health Care for Female Inmates

Bill Number:	H 2234 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Kay Khan

This bill would establish minimum standards for the treatment and medical care of female inmates to promote reproductive health and safe, healthy pregnancy outcomes; prohibit shackling during childbirth; and ensure that release planning includes child custody and basic family planning information and services. Learn more (pdf).

An Act Relative to Providing Health Education in Women’s Correctional Institutions

Bill Number:	H 2833 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Kay Khan

This bill requires that prisoners in women’s correctional institutions be given access to written information on women’s health, contraception, and sexually transmitted infections.

An Act Relative to Providing Health Education in Schools

Bill Number:	H 179 / S 184 [ view bill ]
Status:	The bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on Education.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Alice Wolf and Senator Harriette Chandler

This bill makes explicit that health education (including sex education) is a core subject for which the Commonwealth must maintain academic standards to help local schools districts meet students’ educational needs. It also reiterates state law allowing parents to remove their children from health education classes.

An Act Regarding an Analysis of Health Education in the Commonwealth

Bill Number:	H 1085 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on Education.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Marty Walz

This bill requires the Department of Education, in consultation with the Department of Public Health, to conduct a statewide analysis of and submit a report on the provision and effectiveness of health education in each school district.

An Act to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in the Commonwealth

Bill Number:	H 1517 / S 1091 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Jeffrey Sanchez and Senator Susan Fargo

This bill would create a permanent state Office of Health Equity, housed in the Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS), to coordinate efforts by state agencies to eliminate disparities. Among other things, it would:

Coordinate initiatives that address the social and economic factors influencing health inequality
Prepare an annual health disparities report card based on information from public regional hearings
Designate major state initiatives and evaluate their impact on racial and ethnic health disparities

An Act to Establish Community Based Programs to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities in the Commonwealth

Bill Number:	H 1518 / S 1092 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on Public Health.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Jeffrey Sanchez and Senator Susan Fargo

This bill would create a statewide grant program to support community based agencies’ efforts to address key health disparities issues in their communities, especially those initiatives that could be replicatedby other agencies.

Anti-Choice Legislation

An Act Relative to a Woman’s Right to Know

Bill Number:	H 482 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and was heard by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary on June 8, 2011.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Elizabeth Poirier

Requires any woman seeking an abortion - regardless of her circumstances - to delay at least 24 hours after receiving state-scripted counseling, even if it is irrelevant or inappropriate for her. Learn more (pdf).

An Act Relative to Banning Partial Birth Abortions

Bill Number:	H 1333 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on Judiciary.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Kevin Kuros

This bill bans safe, medically appropriate abortion methods by making it a crime for a doctor to perform certain types of abortion procedures after the first trimester. The bill includes no exception to protect a woman’s health and, in fact, would not even allow a doctor to prioritize saving her life. Learn more (pdf).

An Act Relative to Unborn Children

Bill Number:	H 3295 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and was heard by the Joint Committee on Public Health on May 10, 2011.
Sponsor(s):	Representatives Vinny deMacedo & Sheila Harrington

This bill will force physicians to substitute junk science for medical judgment in order to perform an abortion midway through pregnancy. It would take its greatest toll on women facing dire circumstances, including pregnancy complications. Learn more (pdf).

An Act to Prohibit Abortions Solely on Account of the Sex of the Unborn Child

Bill Number:	H 484 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and was heard by the Joint Committee on the Judiciary on June 8, 2011.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Elizabeth Poirier

This bill exploits concerns about gender-based discrimination in an effort to outlaw abortion. Purporting to ban the procedure if it is believed a woman is seeking it for purposes of "sex selection,” this bill would allow the legislature to second guess a woman’s decision to have an abortion and give prosecutors the power to threaten doctors with criminal charges for providing safe, legal medical care. Learn more (pdf).

An Act Relative to Income Tax Return Options

Bill Number:	H 1683 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on Revenue.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Geoff Diehl

This bill would manipulate the Commonwealth’s tax code by creating an anti-choice "à la carte” opt-out designed to undercut access to abortion care for low-income women in Massachusetts.

An Act Regarding Parental Notification and Consent on Sex Education in Public Schools

Bill Number:	H 155 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on Education.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Elizabeth Poirier

This bill would require any program that involves human sexual education, human sexuality issues, or sexual orientation to be offered only as an elective, setting up an overly burdensome process for schools for disclosing information about the curriculum. Written consent by the parents or guardians would be required (an "opt-in”) in order for students to receive such instruction.

An Act Requiring Parental Consent on Sex Education in Public Schools

Bill Number:	H 1060 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and has been referred to the Joint Committee on Education.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Marc Lombardo

This bill would require any program that involves human sexual education, human sexuality issues, or "alternative sexual behavior” (as defined by legislation) to be offered only as an elective. Parents or guardians would also have to select to enroll their children in this kind of instruction.

An Act Restoring Free Speech and Public Access

Bill Number:	H 2239 [ view bill ]
Status:	This bill was filed in January 2011 and was referred to the Joint Committee on the Judiciary and was heard on June 8, 2011.
Sponsor(s):	Representative Marc Lombardo

This legislation would repeal the law protecting health clinics with a 35-foot safety zone. This critical law was passed by an overwhelming majority of the Massachusetts legislature in 2007. Numerous courts have called the public safety measure constitutional.