AMHERST — Before a revised bylaw designed to protect reproductive rights and gender-affirming health care in Amherst comes to the Town Council, another legal review is being sought by proponents, as they also make sure its content will be consistent with plans the public schools have unveiled for ensuring the safety and treatment of LGTBQ+ students in the new school year.

Sponsored by At Large Councilor Mandi Jo Hanneke and District 5 Councilor Ana Devlin Gauthier, the title of the proposed bylaw is “Ensuring Safe Access to Legally Protected Reproductive and Gender-Affirming Health Care.” It is being brought forward in place of a similar bylaw that addressed deceptive advertising of limited services pregnancy centers, which Devlin Gauthier withdrew in June 2022.

Hanneke told the Governance, Organization and Legislation Committee during its Aug. 2 meeting that the bylaw’s purpose has been strengthened to make it illegal for town employees and staff to interfere with “access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care services (that) is a right recognized by the laws of the commonwealth of Massachusetts” and that “the town of Amherst believes in the protection and affirmation of all individuals’ rights to access legally protected health care services.”

The bylaw explicitly prohibits the disclosure of information or use of town funds to impede those rights or assist “abusive litigation.”

But with concerns over the language in a similar Easthampton ordinance recently vetoed by Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, Hanneke assured the committee that the text of Amherst’s bylaw, previously based on the Easthampton measure, has been changed.

Since the Amherst bylaw was withdrawn last year, the language about crisis pregnancy centers, where pregnant women who may be seeking an abortion could get erroneous information and might not get any legitimate medical or clinical care, and their potentially deceptive advertising, has been removed.

“Those provisions are not in our bylaw,” Hanneke said.

Still, Hanneke said she and Devlin Gauthier met with KP Law attorney Lauren Goldberg, whose general advice was that the rewritten bylaw appeared to be legal and, as a town, will not have to be reviewed by the attorney general. Goldberg cautioned that lawsuits still could come, Hanneke said.

“The question would be are opponents litigious, and what is the council’s level of willingness to go out on a limb in the face that lawsuits might be filed,” Hanneke said.

Hanneke said the bylaw largely focuses on municipal staff actions, warning in one section that “all information related to Reproductive Health Care Services or Gender-Affirming Health Care Services for any person, including individuals who are not residents of the town of Amherst or the commonwealth, held by any Amherst official in their capacity as an Amherst official is and shall be kept confidential and shall not be released or disclosed to any third party, except as required by the order of a court of competent jurisdiction in the commonwealth” or state law.

Still, the committee would like to meet with Superintendent Michael Morris to make sure the proposed bylaw is in alignment with his plans for the school year, and also consult with the School Committee, Library Director Sharon Sharry and library trustees.

Hanneke said that Goldberg has informed the Town Council that it can write bylaws that affect school and library staff, as well town staff and those contracted to work for the town.

Council President Lynn Griesemer said while she supports the bylaw, it is collegial to consult with others. “I think my antennae are up on this both because of Easthampton and everything going on in Amherst,” Griesemer said.

Councilor Pat DeAngelis, who chairs the Governance, Organization and Legislation Committee, said she believes the bylaw is consistent with the plans Morris has outlined for how to make the schools a welcoming place for all students.

“There’s a real balance of shared values and ethics between what he’s proposing and this bylaw,” DeAngelis said.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>