On Monday, August 10, 2026, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed legislation strengthening abortion protections in Massachusetts, allowing physicians to rely on their professional medical judgment, consistent with accepted standards of care, when providing abortion care to patients experiencing serious complications later in pregnancy.

In a state with some of the best doctors and hospitals in the world—and some of the strongest abortion protections in the country—no woman should have to leave Massachusetts to get the care she needs.

I’m talking about women who are preparing to welcome a healthy baby. They’ve picked out a name. The nursery is ready. And then they receive a devastating diagnosis late in pregnancy.

These are moments of unimaginable pain and heartbreak.

Kate Dineen told us how, when her unborn son suffered a catastrophic stroke, she and her husband drove 500 miles to Maryland and paid $10,000 to terminate her pregnancy.

We’ve heard from a woman whose unborn son would not survive infancy. She had to travel to Washington, D.C., for care—and became severely ill on the journey home.

Another woman spent $25,000 of her own money to travel to Colorado after learning her unborn daughter would not be able to survive without profound suffering.

We’ve heard from Massachusetts doctors forced to tell patients with severe pregnancy complications that they must leave the state to get care—and from doctors in Maryland treating an increasing number of patients traveling from states with abortion bans, as well as from Massachusetts.

We’re changing that. Once and for all.

Under the law I signed, families facing these devastating diagnoses will be able to make their own decisions and get the care they need right here in Massachusetts.

We know what we’re up against.

In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs—taking away a constitutional right for the first time in the Court’s history.

Since then, Donald Trump and Republicans across the country have continued pushing extreme abortion bans. Today, one in three women in America lives in a state with an abortion ban.

And President Trump’s Attorney General, Todd Blanche, has said Roe should be overturned “permanent[ly] in every state.”

This is why states like Massachusetts must lead.

As Governor, I will continue to stand up for reproductive freedom – no matter what Donald Trump, Republicans in Congress, or the Courts try to do.

That’s why I stockpiled thousands of doses of mifepristone when it first came under attack.

It’s why I signed the strongest Shield Law in the country to protect patients and the doctors and nurses who care for them.

And it’s why I signed this bill—to make sure women can get the care they need right here at home.

Because we believe health care decisions belong between a woman, her family and her doctor—not her government.

Abortion will remain safe.
It will remain legal.
And it will remain accessible here in Massachusetts.

That is my commitment to you.