At a ceremony at the Massachusetts State House Thursday, out Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed a recently passed law aimed at bolstering protections for providers of gender-affirming and reproductive care, including abortion.As local station NBC 10 Boston notes, the measure passed last week when the Massachusetts House approved it by a 13242 vote, with four state Democrats voting alongside Republicans in opposition. In the state Senate, only three Republicans voted against it. Related Gov. Maura Healey has one simple way to maintain Pride in the face of election year hate Massachusetts will always be a state where patients can access high-quality health care and providers are able to do their jobs without government interference, Healey said in a statement Thursday. From the moment Roe was overturned, we stepped up to pass strong protections for patients and providers, and with President Trump and his allies continuing their assaults on health care, were taking those protections to the next level. No one is going to prevent the people of Massachusetts from getting the health care they need.The bill updates Massachusetts 2022 Shield Act, which protects providers of reproductive and gender-affirming care from out-of-state investigations and prosecutions, and other liability, for providing or assisting patients in accessing such care, which is legal in the state. The laws passage came in response to the Supreme Courts 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization, which overturned the constitutional right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade. Never Miss a Beat Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights. Subscribe to our Newsletter today As both NBC 10 and WWLP 22 News note, the updated law limits the release of personal data, allows prescription labels to include only the name of the prescribing practice and not the specific prescribing doctor, and codifies into law access to emergency, medically necessary abortions.Last week, Massachusetts House Judiciary Committee Chair Michael Day (D) explained that it was urgently necessary to update the states shield law because of the wild rhetoric around trans and reproductive healthcare from the current administration, Republican leaders in other states, and some lawmakers in Massachusetts. Sadly, that urgency is also present because some of the dangerous and, frankly, plainly ignorant rhetoric Ive seen emanating from some individuals here in our own commonwealth in the wake of our initial passage of this bill. Rhetoric saying things that legislators voting in favor of this legislation care only about killing babies and castrating children, Day said, according to NBC 10. I once again remind the more rabidly angry and cruel of our residents that we in the House work every day to protect your rights to voice your opinions, no matter what they may be, including that type of tripe. But we also work every day in these halls to ensure that all of our residents, even and this might be the part that sticks in peoples craws even our residents who might not look like you or talk like you or act like you or live their lives in a way that you dont like. Yep, even for those people, we in the House have the temerity to work to protect their rights to live peacefully with equal rights under the law here in Massachusetts, and we will always do so.In an interview with LGBTQ Nation last October, ahead of the 2024 presidential election, Healey warned of the potential consequences for both LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights under a second Donald Trump administration. Its really, really scary I mean, [Trump] probably led the most anti-LGBTQ administration in American history, and taking away freedoms and protections, you know, banning transgender people from serving in the military, arguing in courts that businesses should be allowed to refuse to serve LGBTQ people, taking away medically necessary care for young people, and we know based on Project 2025 and his own statements, it will be so much worse They want to go after marriage equality. They want to implement a national abortion ban. They want to restrict contraception.Since retaking office in January, Trump has signed multiple anti-trans executive orders, including one declaring that the U.S. government would only recognize two sexes, male and female, dictated by biology. His January 28 executive order, Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation, aimed to ban youth and adults under the age of 19 from accessing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgical procedures for the purposes of gender-affirming care. Under pressure from the administration, which has threatened to withhold federal grant money and funding for Medicare and state Medicaid programs, multiple major medical institutions have stopped providing gender-affirming care for young people. Late last month, Trumps Federal Trade Commission launched a public inquiry claiming that hospitals defrauded patients and their families about the effectiveness of gender-affirming care. In a Thursday statement responding to the Massachusetts bill signing, GLAD Law Director of Family Advocacy Polly Crozier noted that Healeys administration faced political headwinds from the federal government and hostile states.Political threats or intimidation should never deny people the health care they need, and we will continue to work with government leaders and other partners to anticipate and protect Bay Staters, Crozier said.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.