Health in the Commonwealth:
Massachusetts is taking action to protect residents’ access to Mifepristone, an oral abortion medication, after the FDA launched a review of the drug, citing reports of adverse events from users.
This review came after the FDA approved a new generic version of the medication Sept. 30 just before the federal government shut down as a result of a funding lapse.
The newly approved medication means that three manufacturers will be able to produce the drug in the United States and supply of the medication can be expanded. The company producing the new medication is Evita Solutions who currently only produces generic Mifepristone according to their website.
Currently two of three abortions performed in the United States are through medication, not surgical intervention. Many groups throughout the country provide medication for abortions to women through telehealth services.
The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project is one group in Somerville that provides access to the medications needed for a safe abortion. The group is on track to send out nearly 30,000 doses this year alone, according to the Boston Globe.
Massachusetts created a stockpile of Mifepristone after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. The state has been seeking to replenish the stockpile, according to the Boston Globe.
Massachusetts also has a strong “Shield Law” that is designed to protect abortion and gender affirming care providers and patients from out-of-state prosecutions and lawsuits.
Currently the state has around 7,500 doses of Mifepristone left in its stockpile. Half of the original 15,000 have been distributed to patients since it was created in 2023 by Gov. Maura Healy.
The approval came as an outrage to conservative voters who demanded that the Trump administration limit access to abortion medications.
The FDA has said to multiple outlets that they have little leeway when it comes to approving generic versions of already approved medications, so long as the manufacturer can prove they are producing the same drug as the name brand version.
Beacon Hill Report:
The Massachusetts State Senate unanimously passed S2608 Sept. 25. The bill, known as the Massachusetts Data Privacy Act, will institute some of the strongest individual data protection and privacy rights in the nation.
The bill will provide individuals with similar protections to that of the General Data Protection Regulation in the European Union and the United Kingdom, as well as the California Consumer Privacy Act.
If the bill is passed by the house, Massachusetts residents will gain the right to know what data is being collected and shared and by whom. Residents would also gain the right to control their information through corrections, deletion and the ability to opt out of sharing with others.
The bill goes further than previous legislation in the U.S. because it limits the rights of companies regarding what data they can collect.
According to a press release from Sen. Cindy Friedman’s office, “[the bill] constrains companies’ unfettered collection of personal data by limiting them to only collecting what is reasonably necessary in order to provide their product or service. For certain sensitive types of data, including biometrics, precise GPS location and health care data, businesses could only collect the information if it is strictly necessary.”
The press release went on to say that the bill “prohibits any kind of entity, including businesses and nonprofits, from selling a person’s sensitive data.”
Under the bill, companies will be banned from selling the information of any minors who reside in Massachusetts. Additionally, companies will be barred from selling geolocation data gathered in Massachusetts even if the data is collected from a non-Massachusetts resident.
The passage of the bill by the senate came just five days before the Maryland Online Data Privacy Act of 2024 went into effect Oct. 1 with some similar protections. The Massachusetts law goes further with its protections, including virtually no exemptions, unlike the Maryland law.
Read All About It:
- The Worcester city council passed a resolution that bars the city’s police department from aiding Federal Immigration and Customs enforcement officers.
The resolution was called “largely symbolic” by GBH News, as Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell prohibits state and city law enforcement officers from aiding ICE.
In response to protests in May, City Manager Eric Batista signed an executive order barring Worcester police from working with ICE and inquiring about an individual’s immigration status, according to GBH News.
- GBH, one of Massachusetts’s public broadcasters, is seeking to raise $225 million over the next three years to sustain its operations.
The new campaign, “Fund the Future,” comes in response to congress defunding the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in part funded public broadcasting stations across the country.
