January 22, 2026
By: Aaron Halls
After Roe: Federal, State, and Community Actions to Protect Reproductive Health Equity
Today marks what would be the 53rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade — a ruling that constitutionally protected a person’s right to access abortion across the United States. Though this ruling was overturned by the Supreme Court in June of 2022 with their Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, the fight to protect reproductive rights still prevails on a federal, state, and local level.
What is being done to protect abortion access on a federal level?
At the federal level, members of the Unites States Congress are introducing legislation aimed at counteracting the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade — a ruling that has since led to abortion rights being determined at the state level. The Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025 (S.2150, H.R.12) affirms a person’s autonomy to seek abortion care and protects health care providers’ ability to deliver that care without restrictive guidelines prior to viability. The law defines viability as “the point in a pregnancy at which” a medical provider determines that “there is a reasonable likelihood of sustained fetal survival outside the uterus with or without artificial support.”
Congress has also introduced the EACH Act of 2025 (S.2377, H.R.4611), which seeks to ensure that, “Each person insured by, enrolled in, or otherwise receiving medical care from health programs or plans [such as Medicaid, The Children’s Health Insurance Program, Medicare, TRICARE, etc.] shall receive coverage of abortion services.” The Act would also prevent The Federal Government from restricting insurance coverage for abortion services.
What is being done to protect abortion access at a state level?
Earlier this year, the Wyoming Supreme Court struck down a law that would ban abortion altogether, and another that would explicitly ban abortion pills — the first such ban in the United States. Meanwhile, in many other states across the country, abortion is very nearly banned, with limited exceptions and legal punishment for abortion providers.
Here in Massachusetts, government officials have filed several Executive Orders intended to strengthen protection for abortion procedures and medication, and Governor Maura Healey recently signed an update to the Shield Law, An Act Expanding Protections for Reproductive and Gender-affirming Care. These updates include protections for physicians who provide abortion services in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. As stated in a press release from the Governor’s office, the Shield Law also “prohibits Massachusetts state or local authorities from cooperating with any federal or out-of-state investigation into health care services that are legally protected in Massachusetts, such as abortion care.”
How is YW Boston supporting health equity in Massachusetts?
YW Boston continues support bills that address health access and sexual health education for women, especially women of color, including the Healthy Youth Act requiring medically accurate, inclusive sex education in Massachusetts public schools; and the Location Shield Act, a bill prohibiting the sale of location data, which directly impacts individuals seeking reproductive and gender-affirming care. YW Boston also continues to participate on Mass NOW’s Massachusetts Menstrual Equity coalition, which advances many bills aimed at addressing lack of access to period products in Massachusetts.
Going into 2026, YW Boston plans to support bills that directly align with access to equitable health care, including An Act Ensuring Access to Full Spectrum Pregnancy Care and others that will reduce barriers for parents — especially women of color — to access health care.
“Massachusetts has led the way so often for choice,” says Brianna Aloisio-Savage, Associate Director of Advocacy at YW Boston, “But many gaps in equitable access, especially in health care still exist, especially due to recent federal pressures and changing narratives regarding women and inclusion. We must continue to lead the way on choice and access with an intersectional lens to all the inequities in our systems. When we support women, women of color’s health, and education access especially, we lift an entire society.”
