Amendment ID: S2996-12-R1

Redraft Amendment 12

Addressing Abortion and Birth Care Deserts in the Commonwealth

Ms. Rausch and Messrs. Eldridge and Hinds move that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section 37 the following section:-

“SECTION 37A. Not later than April 1, 2023, the department of public health, in consultation with Reproductive Equity Now, Inc., shall issue a report to the senate and house committees on ways and means and the joint committee on public health identifying areas of the commonwealth in which pregnant people do not have access to abortion, as defined in section 12K of chapter 112 of the General Laws, or birth care within a radius of 50 miles and providing recommendations to facilitate access to abortion and birth care in the identified areas. The report shall be made publicly available on the department’s website.”.