Healey signs executive order on medication abortion access, asks UMass Amherst to stockpile pills

Gov. Maura Healey pledged that abortion “will remain safe, legal and accessible here in Massachusetts” as she announced a pair of actions the state is taking to respond to a Texas judge’s ruling blocking FDA approval of the abortion medication mifepristone.

Flanked by state and federal lawmakers and other top officials outside the State House Monday, Healey said she’d asked the University of Massachusetts Amherst to purchase around 15,000 doses of mifepristone, one of two drugs typically used to medically induce an abortion. Healey’s office said that’s enough medication “to ensure sufficient coverage in the state for more than a year.” The doses are expected to start arriving this week.

Healey said she also signed an executive order affirming that medication abortion is covered under a 2022 state law that protects reproductive health providers and their patients against out-of-state legal action.

“This means that providers, including pharmacists, can continue to stock and dispense mifepristone, and we’ll continue to protect providers and patients from consequences for accessing this essential care,” Healey said.

State lawmakers quickly rallied behind the abortion shield law last summer after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had guaranteed the constitutional right to an abortion across all 50 states. That same 2022 law also includes language ensuring access to medication abortion on public college and university campuses.

“Preserving access to reproductive health care is consistent with our values as a university,” UMass President Marty Meehan said. “It supports equity and economic mobility for women, and it also supports racial equality, because we know that restrictions on reproductive health care disproportionately impact women of color.”

The Healey administration said health care providers in Massachusetts have also agreed to purchase more mifepristone, and the state will dedicate $1 million to help pay for those doses.

State and federal officials who spoke at Monday’s press conference noted that mifepristone has been widely used across the country since it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration more than 20 years ago.

Future access to the drug is uncertain in the wake of two conflicting decisions by federal judges, including a hold on the FDA’s approval from a Texas judge that is set to take effect later this week. Another judge in Washington state directed U.S. authorities to not restrict access to mifepristone in 17 states that have sued over the issue.

Massachusetts is not one of the states involved in that lawsuit. Nonetheless, Attorney General Andrea Campbell said she “will use the full legal authority of the office to protect our residents, to ensure they have access to the full spectrum of reproductive health care right here in Massachusetts.”

Many of the state’s top Democrats gathered outside the State House for the announcement, including U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, U.S. Reps. Ayanna Pressley and Lori Trahan, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, state House Speaker Ron Mariano and state Senate President Karen Spilka.

Several of them stood in the same spot last June when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, denouncing that decision and calling for expanded access to abortion.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said she and others feel “the very same rage boiling inside our bellies” as they stood again at the same podium.

Wu said she didn’t want to “talk about how sickeningly mad I am that we are here again,” instead telling Massachusetts residents that they are safe and protected, and offering a message to residents of other states.

“You can vote — we encourage and will fight alongside you — but you can also move to Massachusetts," Wu said. “To the students in high school who are making decisions right now about where to go to college, move to Massachusetts, where our universities are standing shoulder to shoulder with elected leadership in fighting for you and protecting you.”