The Massachusetts Medical
Society today announces its support of the ROE Act (H.3320, An Act Removing
Obstacles and Expanding Access to Women’s Reproductive Health, and S.1209, An
Act to Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access), protecting and expanding
access to abortion care in Massachusetts.
This support is based on organizational policy pertaining to
reproductive health care recently adopted by the Medical Society’s governing
body, its House of Delegates.
Medical Society policy supports specifically the elimination of required parental consent for minors whose physicians have determined that the patients seeking abortion have medical decision-making capacity, the codification of safety-net coverage for abortion in Massachusetts to promote equitable access to abortion services, an update of abortion-related medical terminology in our legal code, and the allowance of a medically-appropriate abortion after 24 weeks when the life and health of the pregnant person is in jeopardy and in cases of fatal fetal anomalies.
“Massachusetts
Medical Society policy states that access to reproductive health care should be
available,” said Massachusetts Medical Society president Maryanne C. Bombaugh, MD,
MSc, MBA, FACOG. “By supporting the amendment of our state laws, we are
protecting a person’s right to make deeply personal and complex decisions with
the support and trusted guidance of their physician, without inequity and
absent undue barriers or stigma.”
Process: How did MMS come to support the ROE
Act?
At the May 2019 annual meeting, the Medical
Society considered a multi-part resolution related to reproductive health care,
including provisions that would support policies permitting abortions after 24-weeks
of pregnancy in instances of lethal fetal anomalies, and policy to remove other
undue barriers to abortion, among others. After careful and thorough discussion
some of those items were adopted and other matters were referred for further
input from a cross-section of physician-led Medical Society leaders and
committees.
The Massachusetts Medical Society provided
written and oral testimony at a hearing before the state legislative Joint
Committee on the Judiciary on Monday June 17, 2019 in support of select
provisions of the ROE Act, based upon MMS policy at that time. This testimony
affirmed the Medical Society’s support of the elimination of required parental
consent for minors who seek an abortion and who demonstrate the requisite medical
decision-making capacity, the
codification of safety-net coverage for abortion in Massachusetts to
promote equitable access to abortion services, and an update of abortion-related medical terminology in our
legal code. To read our entire June 2019 written
testimony, click here.
The deliberative process for additional items related to reproductive
health care involved review and input from several MMS committees, including
the Committee on Quality Medical Practice, the Committee on Maternal and Perinatal
Welfare, and the Committee on Legislation. This process concluded in August
with a vote of the Board of Trustees adopting the recommendation of these three
committees, with amended language directing the Medical Society to support
policies to improve appropriate access to abortion and to allow abortions after
24-weeks of pregnancy in the case of lethal fetal anomalies. Upon adoption of these remaining items, the
Medical Society is in full support of the ROE Act (H.3320/S.1209) in its entirety.
