Location Shield Act Update

On July 16, 2025, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed H.4271, An Act strengthening health care protections in the Commonwealth, also known as the Location Shield Act. This vital legislation preserves and bolsters protections for individuals making their own health care decisions, as well as for healthcare professionals who provide reproductive and gender affirming health care services in the Commonwealth. The House passed this bill at a critical time when the current federal administration continues to target those who make their own reproductive and gender affirming care decisions in consultation with their doctor. 

I was proud to vote in favor of H.4271, which demonstrates the House’s commitment to preserving safe and accessible reproductive care as a fundamental right in the Commonwealth. As a champion of reproductive rights throughout my tenure in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, I am pleased with the measures this bill takes to support these rights.

Building on protections enshrined into law in 2020 and 2022, the bill clarifies protections for both patients and healthcare providers, while prohibiting state agencies, employees, and law enforcement from cooperating with other states or federal investigations into reproductive or gender affirming health care that is legally protected in Massachusetts. The bill similarly restricts businesses that manage electronic health records from sharing patient data connected to these services.

Additionally, this legislation codifies the provision of emergency services for individuals and provides Massachusetts courts and agencies with the necessary tools required to protect both patients and practitioners engaging in reproductive and gender affirming healthcare services. Several states have recently passed laws restricting reproductive health care and access to gender affirming health care in their state  boundaries while, at the same time, attempting to prosecute individuals who seek those personal health care services in Massachusetts.  

The bill makes clear that health care professionals are free to provide legal health care services in Massachusetts, and the Commonwealth will resist attempts by other states or the federal government to prosecute health care professionals for providing those services. 

Provisions in the bill:

●      Exempts the personally identifying information of patients and providers regarding reproductive and gender affirming health care from the public records law.

●      Requires hospitals to provide stabilizing health care services to patients presenting with emergency medical conditions.

●      Empowers the Department of Public Health to remove drugs prescribed in connection with reproductive or gender affirming health care from the prescription monitoring program (PMP) and prohibits the Department from sharing PMP information sought by other states in connection with legally protected health care activities in the Commonwealth.

●      Prohibits the state’s Center for Health Information and Analysis and the Health Connector from providing information to other entities, states, or the federal government regarding legally protected health care activities in Massachusetts, and forbids entities working with these agencies from using data collected to target patients or providers.

●      Protects attorneys licensed in Massachusetts from removal or discipline for advising or representing clients on the topics of reproductive or transgender health care services.

●      Forbids insurance companies from discriminating against or penalizing nonprofits who offer reproductive and gender affirming health care services.

●      Prohibits courts from using the laws of other states prohibiting gender affirming care as grounds to alter custody or visitation rights for children in Massachusetts.

●      Clarifies that Boards of Registration may not take disciplinary actions against practitioners for providing legally protected health care services, and prohibits boards from noting in a provider’s records any criminal, legal, or disciplinary actions brought against them in other jurisdictions for providing health care services that are legally protected in the Commonwealth.  

Having passed the House 136-23, the bill now goes back to the State Senate for further consideration.