In two open letters, more than a dozen progressive groups are urging the Democrat-dominated state Legislature and Governor Maura Healey to take quick action aimed at protecting Massachusetts against a second Trump Administration, including the president-elect’s threat of mass deportations.

The letter to House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka urges lawmakers to come back into formal session this month and notes that after the US Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade, the Legislature acted quickly to protect abortion rights in Massachusetts. The signers say similar action is needed now, before Trump takes office, and cite the passage of legislation to limit state and local authorities’ cooperation with federal immigration enforcement as an especially pressing need.

Jonathan Cohn, the political director of the group Progressive Mass, told GBH News that given the way the Legislature usually operates, waiting until the start of a new session next year to begin initiating safeguards would be a mistake.

“Our legislature moves very slowly,” Cohn said. “What we often see, session after session, is that little in the way of legislation beyond the state budget will happen for the first half of the year in a new session … Things so often just get pushed back later and later and later , creating that bottleneck that [then] exists in July of an even-numbered year.

“With Trump 2.0 coming in January, we can’t wait until July of 2026 to be preparing our state for what’ll be happening,” he added. “It’s also far too late, and not nearly as proactive as we should be … to be even waiting until the middle of next year.”

The letter to Mariano and Spilka also demands passage of legislation prohibiting the purchase and sale of personal cell-phone location data that could be used to track individuals getting abortions in Massachusetts.

Scotia Hille, the executive director of Act on Mass, said the steps the letter is urging the Legislature to take involve bills that have already been introduced and studied, including the so-called Safe Communities Act, which was unveiled during the first Trump Administration in 2017.

“That wouldn’t even take refiling bills,” Hille said.

Hille also pointed out that the Legislature is already meeting in informal sessions to complete unfinished business from the two-year session that ended earlier this year, before Trump defeated Kamala Harris.

Among other things, the letter to Healey urged the governor to call on the Legislature to pass the aforementioned legislation in a special session this year; to create a new state legal-defense fund to finance fights in areas like environmental protection and civil and reproductive rights; to form alliances with other Democrat-controlled states in the region and across the country; and to use state contracts and investments to “promote civil rights, environmental responsibility, and fair labor practices.”

Asked about those calls, a spokesperson for Healey directed GBH News to remarks the governor made Monday in which she said she’ll work with the Trump Administration in ways that benefit Massachusetts, but will “never be afraid to stand up for Massachusetts residents and businesses when a federal administration overreaches or does things that are harmful to our state.”

In a statement from a spokesperson, House Speaker Ron Mariano seemed to rule out taking up the legislation identified by advocates before 2024 comes to a close, and to imply that the House will move at a business-as-usual pace when a new session begins next year.

“The House will review each bill that is filed next session,” the spokesperson said. “Speaker Mariano looks forward to getting to know the incoming members, and to hearing from every member about their priorities for the upcoming legislative session.”

A spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka declined comment on the open letter to her and Mariano, but noted that, after Trump’s victory in November, Spilka said the Senate “will take whatever action necessary to protect … the health and welfare of our residents.” At the time, Spilka also said of Trump: “It’s kind of hard to know what he might do.”

In addition to Progressive Mass and Act on Mass, the letter to legislative leaders was signed by fourteen other groups, including the Massachusetts Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Coalition, American Federation of Teachers - MA, and Mass Equality. Mass Equality was the only group that signed the letter to legislative leaders but not to Healey.