[Editor’s note: The following article comes from a wire service and uses terminology that reflects a pro-abortion perspective. NewBostonPost publishes it for informational purposes, but we believe every human life, born and unborn, has inherent dignity and worth.]

Alison Kuznitz
State House News Service

The number of abortions performed by Massachusetts providers more than doubled between 2023 and 2024, driven by a sharp increase in out-of-state patients accessing care via telehealth, according to state data. 

The Department of Public Health counted 49,450 abortions in 2024, according to a December report that drew backlash from a pro-life organization Wednesday and praise from reproductive rights advocates. In 2023, DPH logged 24,355 abortions.

State law requires that insurers cover abortion and abortion-related services, and federal health officials said Thursday they're initiating a "compliance review" into that "mandate."

Invoking a federal health care "conscience" law known as the Weldon Amendment, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it is probing whether 13 states "are allegedly coercing health care entities to provide coverage of, or pay for, abortion contrary to conscience." That includes Massachusetts. 

In a letter to state Insurance Commissioner Michael Caljouw, HHS' Office for Civil Rights said it confirmed "Massachusetts has received federal funds subject to the Weldon Amendment." Caljouw has 20 days to respond to a dozen questions, including any exceptions surrounding the abortion coverage requirement and a "list and description of all enforcement actions that have been taken against issuers that fail to cover abortion in all health insurance policies." 

State public health data delineate payment types for abortion care, including private insurance, public insurance, self pay and unknown sources. The vast majority of people accessed abortions via telehealth and paid out of pocket in 2024.

Out-of-state individuals accessing abortion care in 2024 surpassed Massachusetts residents. About 21,400 patients were Bay Staters, compared to roughly 27,840 patients from out of state. Reproductive Equity Now says that dynamic points to the effectiveness of the 2022 shield law, which insulates providers and patients from out-of-state legal actions.

"These numbers show that providers are increasing their ability and capacity to continue providing telehealth care, and that patients across the country are looking to Massachusetts as a safe place to access the care they want and need, when and where they need it," said Taylor St. Germain, interim co-executive director of Reproductive Equity Now. "By protecting telehealth care, Massachusetts’ Shield Law is helping break down immense barriers, and allowing people to access essential health care from where they are."

The 2024 data show that about 30,900 abortions were provided via telehealth, compared to 5,740 in 2023. Massachusetts Citizens for Life says that trend reflects a surge in remote medication abortions. Myrna Maloney Flynn, the organization's president, pointed out the total number of abortions is equivalent to the populations of Arlington, Barnstable, Pittsfield or Leominster.

"While the governor insists that abortion is not only health care but a human right as well, Massachusetts Citizens for Life maintains that life itself is the first and most important human right," Flynn said. "And we have learned once again that our state consistently denies this basic human right to our most vulnerable."

Evaluating abortions by patient age in 2024, the cohort of people ages 25-29 logged the largest number of abortions at about 13,500. That's followed by 12,260 abortions among those ages 20-24 years old and 10,630 abortions among those 30-34 years old.

Flynn says DPH's latest report omits certain information that's been previously outlined, including more specific gestational age breakdowns, prior abortions and live births among patients, patients' marital status, and regional data pointing to where out-of-state patients live.

"It's critical to note, however, that the state isn’t 'hiding' information," Flynn said. "The truth is far worse than that: the state can't report on which women are having abortions because it does not know anything about these women, and neither do the abortionists who prescribe mifepristone."

The state's 2025 expanded shield law contained additional patient privacy protections and enabled prescription labels to display a practice name instead of an individual provider's name. That provision stemmed from a New York doctor facing a felony charge in Louisiana for prescribing medication abortion.

Across the country, patients are struggling to access care — including for breast exams, STI testing and birth control pill visits — due to a "defund Parenthood" measure contained in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to a report U.S. Senate Democrats released Thursday. The law's one-year ban on Medicaid dollars flowing to essential health care services at Planned Parenthood clinics has functioned as a "backdoor abortion ban," the report contends.

"In just eight months since Trump signed the OBBBA into law, 23 Planned Parenthood health centers have been forced to permanently close, leaving thousands of patients with fewer options, higher costs, and less freedom to make decisions about their health," the report says.

The report adds that "50% of the Planned Parenthood health centers forced to close last year provided abortion care, and more than 90% of the health centers at risk of closure are in states where abortion is legal, representing a flagrant denial of states’ rights to independent governance."

Claire Teylouni, interim co-executive director of Reproductive Equity Now, said the HHS investigation marks the Trump administration's latest effort to curtail abortion access "in protected states like ours."