Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont (D) signed into law a series of bills Wednesday that seeks to protect abortion rights and access to both contraception and college students’ transgender drugs and surgeries.
In an official statement, Lamont also noted the new Connecticut laws counter those in Republican-led states that have sought to protect unborn life from abortion and teens from life-altering transgender drugs and surgeries.
Lamont signed bills that:
Protect medical providers from adverse actions taken by another state:
Public Act 23-128 enacts a law protecting licensed medical providers in Connecticut from any adverse actions taken by another state due to a provider’s involvement in otherwise legal and competent reproductive health care services. This includes abortions and other so-called “reproductive care” services provided to a patient who comes to Connecticut from a state where such procedures are illegal.
Allow pharmacists to prescribe birth control:
Public Act 23-52 allows pharmacists to prescribe certain types of birth control without patients first needing to visit their doctor.
Require public colleges and universities to plan for how students may access contraception, abortion, and transgender drugs and surgeries:
Public Act 23-41 states the plan must address access to equipment and licensed health care providers to provide abortions and transgender treatments on campuses or in the surrounding community, including during holiday and vacation periods between semesters.
Protect the privacy of patient health data online:
Public Act 23-56 establishes safeguards for collecting, sharing, and selling personal health data by businesses and service providers operating online platforms in Connecticut.
In her introductory remarks before the signing ceremony, Lt. Governor Susan Bysiewicz (D) set the tone by stating:
A year ago, the Dobbs decision overturned Roe v. Wade, and, since then, over the course of the past year, we watched coordinated and extremist attacks on abortion access happening in legislatures and courtrooms across the country. But, as about half the states have turned the clock backward, here in Connecticut we have been moving forward to protect women’s reproductive rights.
Lamont himself cited the words of the Pledge of Allegiance prior to signing the bills, stating, “Remember the words: ‘One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.’”
The governor continued:
“With liberty and justice for all.” Not “with liberty and justice for all,” unless you’re a woman of child-bearing age who happens to live in Florida or Texas, or one of a dozen other countries [sic]. “With liberty and justice for all.” These are the American values. And I love what we’re doing in Connecticut and standing tall and hopefully other states fall on our lead.
Lamont said the Dobbs decision “shocked the hell out of our system.” That legislation coming out of the Republican-led U.S. House is being influenced by “the Freedom Caucus,” which, the governor said, only wants “to strip away our rights and freedoms.”
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Susan Berry, PhD is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]
