Governor Wes Moore signed several measures into law Wednesday on abortion rights and trans healthcare. They position Maryland in direct opposition to Republican-led states which are curtailing such rights and healthcare.
The bills he signed dealt with Maryland, but Governor Moore’s words at the statehouse in Annapolis looked far beyond the state’s borders. “We are living at a time when the Supreme Court is actively working to take Americans’ rights away instead of expanding them,” Moore said. “We are living at a time when more than half the states’ in our country are moving toward banning or severely restricting abortion access.”
Included in the measures he signed Wednesday were four bills regarding abortion rights.
- SB798/HB705 creates a voter referendum enshrining abortion rights in the state constitution for the 2024 election.
- SB786/HB812 requires the Maryland Health Care Commission to ensure confidentiality of data of patients who have obtained ‘legally protected health care’ in Maryland. “If we have people coming to Maryland (for abortions and related healthcare), and then they go back to their home states, it really stops any private information from going any further than our border,” says bill sponsor Shelly Hettleman, a Democratic senator from Baltimore County.
- SB859/HB808 - Prohibits a judge from requiring a person give testimony or statements in another state regarding a person who sought ‘legally protected health care’ in Maryland including reproductive health care. It also prohibits regulators or insurers from taking adverse or disciplinary actions against a provider for providing reproductive health care in Maryland. “Unfortunately in other parts of the country, often providers are targeted with violence,” says Hettleman. “So this protects their identities from those who wish to do them harm. It also protects the information of the services they provide from getting out to state’s who might want to hold that against them legally.”
- SB341/HB477 - Requires institutions of higher learning to develop a reproductive health services plan in consultation with students by August 1, 2024
Given the partisan bent of the Supreme Court and its recent history of overturning long standing laws around abortion, it’s entirely possible that new restrictions could be handed down, or laws passed in reaction to Roe v. Wade’s reversal overturned — like Maryland’s.
Montgomery County Democrat Will Smith, chair of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, says they’ll just have to wait and see. “I suspect the 4th Circuit will be active with what we’ve done this legislative session,” Smith told WYPR, referencing the federal court which has jurisdiction over Maryland’s two federal district courts. “So as those cases and issues matriculate up through the court system and finally to the 4th Circuit and up to the Supreme Court, we’ll get legal guidance on that. But I suspect we’ll see a lot of legal challenges in the near future.”
Trans Health Equity Act also signed
Governor Moore also signed the Trans Health Equity Act Wednesday, another bill that puts Maryland in direct opposition to Republican-led states. Medicaid in Maryland will now cover gender affirming healthcare, at a time where a rapidly growing number of states are either restricting or even prohibiting such care. “In our state no one should ever have to justify their humanity,” said the Governor at the bill signing. “In our state no one should ever have to justify their own humanness. And that is what the Trans Health Equity Act is all about.”
Since March 29th, seven states have limited or banned gender-affirming healthcare for minors. West Virginia Governor Jim Justice signed a bill banning such care in his state March 29th. That same day the Republican-led Kentucky General Assembly overrode Democratic Governor Andy Beshear’s veto to install their own ban. Idaho, Indiana, North Dakota, Montana and Oklahoma have all followed since.
