Thursday, March 28

Abortion rights activists rally in Boston and across the state, country – The Boston Globe


Abortion rights activists will gather Saturday across Massachusetts to demonstrate their opposition to the leaked Supreme Court draft decision that would overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling, which establishes a constitutional right to abortion.

The local demonstrations coincide with abortion rights rallies scheduled across the country under the slogan, “Bans Off Our Bodies.” In Washington, D.C., the organization Women’s March is expecting thousands of protesters to gather Saturday afternoon for a march from the Washington Monument to the Supreme Court.

Events are scheduled in Boston, Concord, Worcester, Northampton, Newburyport, Scituate, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and communities on Cape Cod.

In Boston, demonstrators gathered at noon on Boston Common for a rally sponsored by Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, Reproductive Equity Now, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts. Another organization, Rise Up 4 Abortion Rights, is holding a march and rally in Copley Square at 2 p.m.

Two years ago, the same groups collaborated on efforts to codify abortion rights in Massachusetts law in anticipation of Roe being overturned. On Friday, the organizations announced plans to push state leaders for expanded reproductive services to accommodate patients in Massachusetts and beyond.

The Boston rally began at the Parkman Bandstand. Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat and candidate for governor, US Senator Edward J. Markey, Boston City Councilor Kendra Lara, and representatives from the groups sponsoring the event are among the speakers expected to address the gathering.

The opinion, later verified by the Supreme Court, unleashed a wave of reaction and demonstrations for and against the draft ruling, though the court has yet to finalize its decision.

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If Roe falls, about half of US states are expected to ban abortion, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion-rights think tank.

Massachusetts is among 16 states where abortion rights will remain intact regardless of how the Supreme Court rules.

In 2020, the state passed the ROE Act over Republican Governor Charlie Baker’s veto, codifying and expanding the right to abortion in Massachusetts.

Under state law, abortion is legal through 24 weeks of pregnancy, as well as after that threshold in cases with a fatal fetal anomaly or to preserve the health of a pregnant person. The ROE Act also allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to seek abortions without parental consent.

On Friday, Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, Reproductive Equity Now, and the ACLU of Massachusetts announced new efforts under the name, “Beyond Roe Coalition.”

The advocacy groups said they want to position Massachusetts as a leader in providing affordable reproductive care of all kinds. One recommendation calls for passage of legislation requiring “full-spectrum pregnancy care” — insurance coverage for abortion but also for prenatal and postpartum care with no out-of-pocket costs.

The measure, advocates said, takes into account that steep deductibles and copayments make reproductive care unaffordable for many patients, particularly people of color.

The coalition is also calling for legislation to require no-cost insurance coverage of all forms of emergency contraception — medication that can prevent a pregnancy if used within a short window of time. Emergency contraception is now available over the counter but at a much higher cost than the prescription versions that are covered by insurance and take longer to dispense.

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The bill, now before the House Ways and Means Committee, would make all forms readily available with no out-of-pocket costs.

A second proposal would require that abortion pills be dispensed at the campus health centers at the state’s public universities, some of which are hours away from abortion clinics on public transit. Now the most common form of abortion in Massachusetts, medication abortion is a two-step protocol of prescriptions that can be used to end a pregnancy up until 10 weeks.

Advocates are also drafting a measure to protect Massachusetts residents and abortion providers from prosecution under a law like Texas’s SB8, according to Rebecca Hart Holder, executive director of Reproductive Equity Now. The Texas law deputizes private citizens to sue anyone who helps provide an abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy.


Laura Crimaldi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @lauracrimaldi.



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