How the Dobbs abortion decision is playing out in Massachusetts, one year later

Massachusetts has not experienced much of the political turmoil triggered by the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, which ended the constitutional right to an abortion. The state's lawmakers have moved to secure that right, boost protections for providers and stockpile abortion pills. However, Massachusetts is still feeling the effects of a deepening political divide on abortion access playing out across the country.

Impact on Clinics and Patient Migration

A map of the U.S., hanging on the wall of the Women's Health Services clinic in Brookline, is one illustration of the shifting landscape. Pins mark the home states of patients who have come to the Brookline clinic for an abortion since the Dobbs decision. Red, green and blue flag-shaped pins mark the home states of 90 patients who’ve traveled to this Brookline facility for an abortion over the past year.

Before last spring, Dr. Lolly Delli-Bovi rarely saw patients from beyond New England. “But then the minute the leaked opinion came out and then the Dobbs decision,” she said, “we started seeing people from basically everywhere in the South.” Essentially, these are patients from states where abortion limits or bans have taken effect. Delli-Bovi worries that maternal mortality rates could rise in states with strict abortion limits or bans.

Key Data and Observations

• Out-of-State Patients: 90 individuals traveled to the Brookline clinic from distant states, primarily the South.
• Statewide Abortion Trends: One database based on voluntary reporting shows fewer total abortions statewide since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
• Medical Stockpile: In Massachusetts, the state and individual providers have stockpiled about a two-year supply of abortion pills.

Legal Protections and Data Privacy Concerns

To ease legal concerns about traveling to Massachusetts for an abortion, advocates are focused on legislation that would ban the sale of cell phone data created within the state. The bill was crafted in response to efforts in places like Texas, which allows civil lawsuits against people who help a patient get an abortion. Rebecca Hart Holder, president of Reproductive Equity Now, explained: “What we’re worried about is that someone travels to Massachusetts for care and their cell phone is tracked.”

The concern is that an anti-choice actor buys the data and uses it to prove that they had an abortion. Carol Rose, director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, noted that the main worries she hears from clinicians are about the changing legal landscape. “What can they say, who can they help and then a lot of people are concerned about mifepristone and upcoming regulations,” said Rose.

Medical Supply Readiness

An appeals court in New Orleans is expected to rule soon on a lawsuit that aims to undo FDA approval for mifepristone, one of two pills commonly used in non-surgical abortions. To counter this, providers in Massachusetts have taken proactive steps. In Massachusetts, the state and individual providers have stockpiled about a two-year supply of the medication to ensure continued access for patients.