Healthcare

This bill, titled "An Act prioritizing patient access to care," amends Massachusetts state law to change how abortions are regulated. It removes the requirement that abortions must be performed only to preserve a patient's life or health or due to specific fetal diagnoses, replacing those criteria with a standard based solely on a physician's professional judgment. Additionally, the bill prevents any medical review process from overriding a doctor's decision to perform an abortion when a patient or their health care proxy requests it. These changes directly affect physicians, patients, and healthcare facilities by expanding the circumstances under which abortions can be legally provided.

Text of amendments, recommended by the committee on Ways and Means, to the Senate Bill to promote student learning and mental health (Senate, No. 2581, amended). April 7, 2026.

Senate, June 26, 2025 -- Text of the Senate Bill strengthening health care protections in the Commonwealth (Senate, No. 2543) (being the text of Senate, No. 2538, printed as amended).

Text of an amendment, recommended by the committee on Ways and Means, to the Senate Bill strengthening health care protections in the Commonwealth (Senate, No. 2543). July 15, 2025.