After Roe Fell: U.S. Abortion Laws by State

Protected

Massachusetts

Abortion remains legal in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Supreme Court has recognized the right to abortion under the state’s constitution, and in 2021 Massachusetts passed comprehensive abortion rights legislation. In 2025, Massachusetts further strengthened protections for reproductive and gender-affirming care.

State Legal Details

Bans in Effect

  • Gestational Ban, Viability

Restrictions in Effect

  • Parental Involvement, Parental Consent Requirement

State Protections

Massachusetts law includes constitutional protections for abortion. In 1981, the Massachusetts Supreme Court held that the due process protections of the state constitution protect abortion.1 Massachusetts state law also protects the right to abortion.2 Massachusetts affirms the right of physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and nurse midwives to provide abortions before twenty-four weeks of pregnancy.3 Massachusetts also provides public funding for abortion care4 and requires private insurance coverage of abortion.5 The state protects clinic safety and access by prohibiting obstruction and providing a buffer zone.6

In 2022, Massachusetts enacted statutory protections shielding providers, patients, pharmacists, and people who help others access abortion from professional licensure consequences7 and the reach of out-of-state investigations and legal actions.8 In June 2022, the Massachusetts governor issued an executive order prohibiting executive branch cooperation with out-of-state investigations and legal actions arising from the lawful provision of abortion in Massachusetts;9 these protections were subsequently codified in statute.10

In 2025, Massachusetts enacted interstate shield laws to protect all health care professionals operating under a board of registration from disciplinary action11 or insurance consequences.12 The state also enacted data privacy provisions that restrict data sharing13 and require enhanced security for medical data.14 Massachusetts law also has additional protections related to medications prescribed for reproductive and gender-affirming care by allowing Schedule IV medications to be labeled with the name of a practice rather than an individual practitioner15 and excluding certain medications from the state’s drug monitoring program.16 Further, Massachusetts allows anyone sued in another state for providing, accessing, or helping someone access abortion to file their own legal action for unlawful interference with a protected right, and recover actual damages from the out-of-state litigant.17

Restrictions

Massachusetts generally restricts abortion at twenty-four week post-fertilization,18 Massachusetts law generally requires that one parent or guardian or a judge consent to a minor’s abortion if the young person is under 16.19

Massachusetts law requires providers to report certain abortions to the state.20 Massachusetts law restricts the provision of abortion care at twenty-four weeks of pregnancy to licensed physicians and to circumstances where the patient’s life or health is at risk or the patient receives a grave fetal diagnosis.21

Historical Restrictions

Massachusetts repealed its pre-Roe ban in 2018.22

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, abortion will remain legal in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Supreme Court has recognized the right to abortion under the state’s constitution, and in 2021 Massachusetts passed comprehensive abortion rights legislation. In 2025, Massachusetts further strengthened protections for reproductive and gender-affirming care.

  1. Moe v. Sec’y of Admin. & Fin., 417 N.E.2d 387, 397-99 (Mass. 1981); Planned Parenthood League of Mass., Inc. v. Att’y Gen., 677 N.E.2d 101, 103-04 (Mass. 1997). ↩︎
  2. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 112, § 12L. ↩︎
  3. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 112, § 12M. ↩︎
  4. Moe, 417 N.E.2d at 404-05. ↩︎
  5. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 175, § 47F. ↩︎
  6. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 266, §§ 120E (preventing obstruction), 120E 1/2 (providing a buffer zone). ↩︎
  7. Mass. Gen. Laws  ch. 94C §§ 19a(c) (protecting licensed pharmacists dispensing emergency contraception); ch. 112 §§ 5F1/2 (protecting physicians), 9H (protecting physician assistants), 32 (protecting pharmacists), 77 (protecting nurses), 128 (protecting psychologists), 137 (protecting social workers); ch. 13, § 105 (protecting genetic counselors). ↩︎
  8. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 12 § 11I1/2. ↩︎
  9. Mass. Exec. Order No. 2022-600 (June 24, 2022), https://www.mass.gov/executive-orders/no-600-protecting-access-to-reproductive-health-care-services-in-the-commonwealth?n. This executive order was later rescinded after the Massachusetts Legislature passed a law codifying these measures. Mass. Exec. Order No. 2022-601 (August 24, 2022), https://www.mass.gov/executive-orders/no-601-rescinding-executive-order-no-600). ↩︎
  10. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 276, § 13 (prohibiting surrendering a person charged in another state for engaging in abortion or gender-affirming care); ch. 147, § 63 (prohibiting a state or local law enforcement agency from assisting with an out-of-state or federal investigation). ↩︎
  11. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 112 § 61. ↩︎
  12. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 175, § 193U. ↩︎
  13. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 12C, § 12 (applicable to the state’s center for health information and analysis); ch. 93, § 115 (applicable to business entities); ch. 112, § 12Q (applicable to the commissioner of public health); ch. 176Q, § 19 (applicable to the state’s health insurance connector). ↩︎
  14. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 111, 70I. ↩︎
  15. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, §§ 21-22. ↩︎
  16. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 94C, § 24(a). ↩︎
  17. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 12, § 11I1/2(d). ↩︎
  18. Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 112, § 12M; see Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 112, § 12K (defining pregnancy as “the presence of an implanted human embryo or fetus in the uterus”). ↩︎
  19. Mass. Gen. Laws. ch. 112, § 12R. ↩︎
  20. Mass. Gen. Laws. ch. 112, § 12Q.. ↩︎
  21. Mass. Gen. Laws. ch. 112, § 12N. ↩︎
  22. Mass. Gen. Laws. ch. 272, § 19, repealed by 2018 Mass. Acts ch. 155 § 2. ↩︎