Out of State prosecution is being pursued in states with legal and safe abortions.

July 29, 2022

By Matt Stout

Governor Charlie Baker (click here) on Friday signed a bill that broadens access to abortion in Massachusetts and helps shield providers from out-of-state prosecution, delivering into law an expansion of the state’s reproductive rights protections a month after Roe v. Wade was overturned.

Baker’s office announced he had approved the legislation just days after the Legislature sent it to him, releasing a picture of him signing it alongside Senate President Karen E. Spilka, an Ashland Democrat.

The second-term Republican supports abortion rights and has sought to protect providers through an executive order he signed last month in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to end the constitutional right to an abortion — elements of which were included in the legislation he signed Friday....

I think the provisions protecting doctors is important.

...The bill also seeks to help shield providers from out-of-state prosecution for procedures that are legal here, such as abortions and gender-affirming care.

Among other changes responding to last month’s ruling that allowed states to outright prohibit abortion for the first time in 49 years, the legislation also makes emergency contraceptives such as Plan B available in vending machines and requires medication abortion availability at public colleges and universities, lawmakers said....