Hearing DetailsSenate Committee on Steering and Policy

Event Details

Status:

Completed

Event Date:

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Start Time:

1:00 PM

Location:

A-1 and Virtual

Event Description

Senate Committee on Steering and Policy Hearing

In the face of escalating threats from a hostile federal government and other states, the Senate Committee on Steering and Policy will hold a public hearing on legislation to fortify protections for reproductive and gender-affirming health care for providers, patients, and advocates across the Commonwealth.

Specifically, the Committee seeks testimony on potential loopholes and areas for clarification in the 2022 Shield Law (An Act expanding protections for reproductive and gender-affirming care), including, but not limited to:

ensuring access to emergency abortion care;
restricting state agencies from cooperating with, or providing information for, federal or out-of-state investigations or inquiries into legally protected health care activity;
limiting out-of-state entities' access to patient electronic medical records and other identifying health data; and
protecting the licenses of health care professionals that provide reproductive and gender-affirming care and the licenses of lawyers that represent people engaged in this care.

The public is invited to participate in this hearing. To register to testify in-person or remotely, please complete the following registration form by 5:00PM on Friday, May 23: https://forms.office.com/g/CCuu51L0JE

Oral testimony is limited to 3 minutes per speaker. Individuals registered for remote testimony will receive an email with a link to join the hearing on Microsoft Teams. Same-day registration will only be available to those testifying in person. For individuals participating on a panel, each member of the panel must sign up separately and complete the registration form. The Chair will permit hybrid panels in which some individuals on the panel will testify in person and others will testify remotely.

For individuals who will not participate in the hearing but wish to submit written testimony, please do not fill out the registration form. Written testimony may be submitted via email to Chair Friedman at Cindy.Friedman@masenate.gov and Elizabeth Berman at Elizabeth.Berman@masenate.gov. At the discretion of the Chair, written testimony received by the committee will be made publicly available. The committee may limit availability or redact testimony that includes sensitive personal information, information about minors, or information that may jeopardize the health, wellness or safety of the testifier or others.

Please direct questions to Elizabeth Berman at Elizabeth.Berman@masenate.gov.

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Item Name	Start Time	Duration	Webcast
Senate Committee on Steering and Policy - 5-28-2025	5/28/2025 1:00 PM	01:16:46

Hearing DetailsSenate Committee on Steering and Policy

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