Senate passes bill expanding protections for reproductive and gender‑affirming care, limits some data sharing

The Massachusetts Senate voted to pass an act strengthening protections for reproductive and gender‑affirming health care (Senate No. 2538), a bill supporters said will shield patients and providers from out‑of‑state investigations, limit certain data sharing, and make state-level clarifications on emergency care.

Senator Cindy F. Friedman, the bill sponsor, described the proposal as building on prior state protections and said the bill was drafted with input from the attorney general’s office, the Department of Public Health, and multiple advocacy groups. “This comprehensive bill took an incredible amount of thought, discussion, and collaboration to develop,” she said during debate. Friedman said the bill was developed to limit disclosure of patient and provider information to federal or out‑of‑state investigators and to clarify that when appropriate abortion and active labor are emergency services.

Key provisions described on the floor include:

- Limits on information sharing by insurers, electronic health record managers and state agencies so they cannot disclose identifiable data in response to out‑of‑state investigations; specific limits apply to the…