Women’s Fund Commissions Report on ‘Life After Roe in Massachusetts’

SPRINGFIELD — The Women’s Fund of Western Massachusetts (WFWM) has commissioned a report titled “Life After Roe in Massachusetts,” prepared by the Gender Point in partnership with the Women’s Funding Network and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. The report details the status of reproductive rights in Massachusetts, the disproportionate impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on certain communities in Massachusetts, and the national economic benefits of abortion access.

In 2022, Massachusetts ranked 16th in the nation across a variety of indicators of reproductive rights, with a grade of B-, according to the Gender Point. The state’s low assessment can be attributed factors such as the mandated inclusion of abstinence in sexual and reproductive health education, the requirement of minors under the age of 16 to receive parental consent prior to an abortion, and the various inclusions and limitations of Medicaid.

Feyla McNamara, co-founder of the abortion fund Tides for Reproductive Freedom, noted that “Roe never arrived for many people in Massachusetts.” She also noted the “wraparound costs” associated with abortions like “getting there, the hotel, the childcare costs,” and asks community members to invest in abortion funds like the Abortion Fund of Western Massachusetts, which provides abortion funding, or Tides for Reproductive Freedom, which provides wraparound support.

Click here to read the full report.