Massachusetts project helps women in abortion-restrictive states, tests shield laws
The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Project will likely face the same challenges that other telemedicine services will after helping women in states that ban abortion.
The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Project began as a way to provide reproductive treatment to women in restrictive states where it was unavailable. It will inevitably test how much a shield law can protect it from extradition and civil lawsuits in other parts of the country.
The organization offers telemedicine abortion services. The project, launched on Sept. 28, 2023, serves patients in all 50 states, US territories, and those with military or State Department addresses. Patients must be 16 or older and at 11 weeks of gestation or less. The service costs $75, with options to pay more or less. The MAP employs five prescribing clinicians, office personnel, and 75 volunteers. They provide care to about 2,500 patients monthly.
I spoke with its co-founder, Angel Foster, about their work.
“When we embarked on this project, we recognized that there would likely be lawsuits,” Foster said. “We also feel very confident in the shield law and our relationships with all of the entities in Massachusetts.”
The Massachusetts legislature passed An Act Expanding Protections for Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Care in 2022. It protects individuals and healthcare providers from legal consequences in other states for actions related to reproductive and gender-affirming care, including abortion, that are legal in Massachusetts. It essentially shields those in Massachusetts from out-of-state prosecutions and legal actions related to these types of care.
Shield laws have been tested elsewhere, but the courts haven’t ruled on their constitutionality. A doctor who did the same thing in New York faces extradition and civil lawsuits. The District Court for the Parish of West Baton Rouge, in Louisiana, unanimously issued an indictment against Dr. Margaret Carpenter, her company, Nightingale Medical, PC, and the minor’s mother. All three were charged with criminal abortion by means of abortion-inducing drugs, a felony.
While it’s been reported that the criminal penalty is up to five years in prison and $50,000 in fines, another law in the state stipulates that someone who helps a minor get an abortion that leads to injury could face up to 50 years in prison, according to an AI report compiled by Google.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has refused to extradite Carpenter, setting up a constitutional showdown.
Carpenter is at the center of another lawsuit in Texas that deals with her prescribing abortion medication across state lines. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Carpenter, who is the founder of the Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine. Paxton said she provided a Collin County resident with abortion-inducing drugs that resulted in serious complications for the mother, who then required medical intervention. Paxton is seeking a $250,000 civil penalty.
Foster said they would stop operating in Massachusetts if the Supreme Court ruled they couldn’t.
“We're a legal service,” Foster said. “We provide high-quality care. We're using the same FDA-approved medications that are provided through clinics.”