A new hotline providing free legal advice on abortions for patients, providers and people who help has launched in Massachusetts, seven months after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
The Abortion Legal Hotline, at 833-309-6301, connects callers with trained lawyers, who'll give pro bono, confidential legal advice about how to get an abortion and caring for patients.
"It will help people and families, including those who travel from out of state seeking care, access to these critical health care services," said new Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell at a news conference, flanked by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Reps. Katherine Clark and Ayanna Pressley and several officials involved in the effort.
Abortion is legal in Massachusetts, and a new law was passed after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade protecting local providers of abortions and gender-affirming care from legal action from out of state.
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The hotline was launched to "ensure those offering or accessing abortion care in Massachusetts fully understand the scope of this new law and how care is protected in our Commonwealth," said Rebecca Hart Holder, president of the Reproductive Equity Now Foundation, in a statement.
At the news conference, she noted that other states have filed legislation that criminalizes providing help to someone seeking an abortion, and among those the hotline will help is people seeking care in Massachusetts from out of state.
"Today, abortion remains legal in Massachusetts and no anti-abortion extremist should be able to reach across our borders and challenge that," Hart Holder said.
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Her organization launched the hotline together with Campbell, the Women's Bar Foundation, the ACLU of Massachusetts and five local law firms.
Warren said that it was important to file legislation but also important to provide information to people seeking to take advantage of it.
"With this hotline, Massachusetts is fighting back against misinformation, deception and outright lies," she said.
