AN ACT PRIORITIZING PATIENT ACCESS TO CARE
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 12N of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2024 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 1 to 9, inclusive, the words “no abortion may be performed except by a physician, and only if in the best medical judgement of the physician it is: (i) necessary to preserve the life of the patient; (ii) necessary to preserve the patient’s physical or mental health; (iii) warranted because of a lethal fetal anomaly or diagnosis; or (iv) warranted because of a grave fetal diagnosis that indicates that the fetus is incompatible with sustained life outside of the uterus without extraordinary medical interventions” and inserting in place thereof the following words:- an abortion may be performed by a physician based upon the professional judgment of the physician.
SECTION 2. Said chapter 112 is hereby further amended by striking out section 12N1/2 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-
Section 12N1/2. No medical review process shall override the professional judgment of a treating physician and a patient or the patient’s health care proxy to provide an abortion consistent with section 12N.
SECTION 3. Section 12P of said chapter 112, as appearing in the 2024 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the second paragraph.
Approved, August 10, 2026.