If you cannot be at Monday’s hearing, you can still take important action to support this bill. Legislators are being bombarded by the anti-abortion side. They must hear from constituents who support this bill.

Please call or email your own Senator and Representative this week or Monday; contact information is here. Tell them you support H.3320/S.1209, the ROE Act, and you hope they will urge the Joint Committee on the Judiciary to report the bill favorably for a vote. Even if your legislators already support this bill, it is critical that they hear from constituents who are in favor of the bill to offset the anti-abortion blitz. It only takes a minute. Please take this action now.

1. The ROE Act protects the health, safety, and privacy of young people. The ROE Act eliminates the requirement that teens obtain permission from a parent or judge to access abortion. This process causes teens to delay care or travel outside of the state, and is opposed by the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics.  Massachusetts has one of the most restrictive parental consent laws in New England. Teens go to Vermont or New York, which do not have parental consent laws.

2. The ROE Act ensures medical decisions remain between patient and doctor. The ROE Act expands access to abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy to include cases of fatal fetal anomalies when the fetus will not survive. The current law allows abortion after 24 weeks only to protect the mother’s health. Someone needing to end a pregnancy in the case of a fatal fetal anomaly must travel to another state.

3. The ROE Act leads the way in ensuring equitable access to abortion. The ROE Act establishes safety net coverage for abortion for people excluded from MassHealth. Such coverage already exists for all other pregnancy-related care.

4. The ROE Act brings our abortion laws into the 21st century. The ROE Act reforms outdated state laws by removing medically inaccurate language, abolishing medically unnecessary abortion restrictions like an unenforced 24-hour waiting period, and codifying the principles of reproductive freedom into state law.

For additional information on the bill from Planned Parenthood, click here.

A recent statewide survey of nearly 2,000 registered voters, conducted by MassINC, found that 78% of voters (and 72% of Catholics) support a state law to guarantee a legal right to abortion. In addition, 76% of all voters (and 75% of Catholics) support adding an exception to the ban on abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy to protect a woman’s health or in cases where there is a grave fetal anomaly. Voters want Massachusetts to be a model for other states and the country; 85% of voters agree that Massachusetts should be a leader in ensuring that a woman who has made a decision to get an abortion is able to get safe, supportive, respectful care in her community.

With the right to safe and legal abortion at risk nationwide, it is important to do all we can in Massachusetts to expand and protect access. Come to Monday’s hearing if you can. Contact your legislators and tell them you support the ROE Act. Forward this email to your network.