Massachusetts Legislative Priorities

2023-2024 Family Building Legislation

 

An Act Relative to Preserving Fertility (H.1041/S.598)

Lead Sponsors: Rep. Kevin Honan and Sen. Cynthia Creem

Massachusetts has the opportunity to protect future family building by providing fertility preservation coverage to all individuals with a medical need. More information is on the MA Fertility Preservation Fact Sheet.

 

An Act to Ensure Legal Parentage Equality (H.1713/S.947)

Lead Sponsors: Reps. Sarah Peake and Hannah Kane; Sens. Julian Cyr and Bruce Tarr 

This bill, the Massachusetts Parentage Act (MPA), ensures that all children will have access to the security of legal parentage, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. The MPA updates the state parentage laws to secure equality for all children in the Commonwealth. It is based on the Uniform Parentage Act of 2017. RNE is proud to be part of the MPA Coalition, and more information can be found on the coalition website

 

An Act Designating September as PCOS Awareness Month (H.3090/S.2030)

Lead Sponsors: Rep. Samantha Montano and Sen. Liz Miranda

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a serious genetic, hormone, metabolic and reproductive disorder that can lead to lifelong complications, psychosocial disorders, obesity, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, infertility, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, endometrial cancer, maternal/fetal health complications and other conditions. PCOS is an extremely common endocrine disorder, yet there is widespread lack of awareness, with 50% of people with PCOS being undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

 

An Act Relative to Pregnancy Loss Leave (H.1948/S.1201)

Lead Sponsors: Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa and Sen. Joan Lovely

This bill provides protected paid leave for people to cope with a pregnancy loss, an unsuccessful assisted reproductive technology procedure (such as IVF), a disrupted adoption or surrogacy match, or a challenging medical diagnosis related to pregnancy or fertility. This inclusive language recognizes that loss and grief can come in various forms.

 

An Act Relative to Pregnancy Loss Awareness (H.2265)

Lead Sponsor: Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa

This bill directs the Department of Public Health to provide public information about pregnancy loss, as well as data collection and analysis.

 

An Act Designating October 15th as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day (S.2005)

Lead Sponsor: Sen. Paul Feeney

October 15 will be recognized annually in Massachusetts as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day to increase public awareness of the prevalence of pregnancy loss, as well as the physical and mental toll that individuals face from experiencing loss when trying to grow a family.

 

An Act Relative to LGBTQ Family Building (S.622)

Lead Sponsor: Sen. Julian Cyr 

This bill would update the existing infertility statute in Massachusetts to improve access for LGBTQ people, will investigate the affordability and accessibility of family building resources available to the LGBTQ community, and provide collaborative trainings for medical providers to improve services available to LGBTQ couples looking to build their families. 

Get Involved

Please contact your own Massachusetts state legislators on behalf of any or all of these bills. It’s as easy as 1-2-3:

 

1. First, confirm who your legislators are and find their contact information at:
 

2. Call or email your MA State Rep. and State Senator (and any others that you know!) to ask them to co-sponsor the bill(s) you care about.
A sample script/email template is below, though you must modify and personalize this!

 
3. Please let us know if you get any feedback from legislative offices. If you have any questions or would like some assistance, email Kate at [email protected]!
 
Template for State Representatives

Dear Representative *Last Name*,

 

As your constituent from *city/town*, I am writing/calling to ask you to please co-sponsor BILL NUMBER (starts with HD) AND TITLE.

*EXPLAIN WHY YOU CARE ABOUT THIS ISSUE/BRIEFLY SHARE YOUR STORY*.

Thank you, and feel free to reach out to me if I can help further.

 

*SIGNATURE AND HOME ADDRESS IF EMAILING*
Template for State Senators

Dear Senator *Last Name*,

As your constituent from *city/town*, I am writing/calling to ask you to please co-sponsor BILL NUMBER (starts with SD) AND TITLE.

*EXPLAIN WHY YOU CARE ABOUT THIS ISSUE/BRIEFLY SHARE YOUR STORY*.

Thank you, and feel free to reach out to me if I can help further.

*SIGNATURE AND HOME ADDRESS IF EMAILING*

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