On July 12, reproductive health advocates and local politicians filled the common room of a Northampton co-housing community to celebrate and support the vital work of The Massachusetts Medication Abortion Access Project (The MAP). Based in Cambridge, the MAP is one of a handful of medical practices in the U.S. providing telehealth abortion to patients living in states that ban clinicians within their borders from providing abortion care. The MAP uses an asynchronous telemedicine platform built to provide prompt, private and convenient abortion care for a sliding scale fee.
In 2024, The MAP served 10,860 patients. In the first five months of 2025, they cared for 12,000 patients. The MAP is now providing abortion pills to 2,500 patients each month — nearly one third of whom live in Texas. They plan to serve 30,000 patients in 2025. “We have strengthened our operations, hired another clinician, retained terrific legal counsel and conducted research to improve our service,” said Dr. Angel Foster, The MAP’s medical director.
The MAP offers a pay-what-you-can model, with a minimum fee of $5, which they will waive if necessary. Dr. Foster says two thirds of their patients receive subsidized care because the pay less than $75. One third pay $5 or less. Patients receive screening for eligibility, the medications, shipping, support and follow up care. Abortion pills are highly effective, easy to use and safer than Tylenol.
Three of The MAP’s five prescribing physicians live in western Massachusetts. They were all in attendance at the July 12 event. One shared feedback from their patients, showing just how important The MAP’s services are in a post-Roe world:
“Having access to abortion care in a red state has saved my life. Thank you for helping women and keeping them safe.”
“Thank you for the pricing scaled down so I could afford it and thank you for checking on me. I start college in the spring. Never stop helping the ones the world forgets.”
“Keep fighting to help women choose. No government should be able to make life changing decisions for us.”
Several local legislators attended the fundraiser, including Northampton Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra, state Reps. Lindsay Sabadosa and Mindy Domb, and Northampton City Councilor Deborah Pastrich-Klemer. Also in attendance was Allyson Slater, director of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Reproductive Justice Unit.
Massachusetts lawmakers made The MAP’s nationwide service possible by passing a groundbreaking abortion provider shield law just one month after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Since then, seven other states have followed Massachusetts’ lead and passed similar legislation.
Mayor Sciarra — a veteran of the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project — praised The MAP: “I am extremely grateful for your work and that of many in this room, including the work of our legislators to enact the SHIELD law and work of the attorney general’s office to protect the access the law ensures.”
The Massachusetts shield law defines telehealth as occurring where the provider is located rather than where the patient is located — meaning Massachusetts law applies, even if the patient lives in a state with an abortion ban. As a result, Massachusetts clinicians can legally provide abortion care to patients in all 50 states and members of the military living abroad. The shield law protects clinicians from criminal and civil penalties for care allowed under Massachusetts law, and preserves their licenses and insurance. The law also protects patient privacy, precluding government officials from turning over a patient’s medical information to other states.
To put the city’s commitment into practice, Mayor Sciarra issued an executive order on Nov. 18, 2024, directing all city officials to comply with the shield law by protecting those seeking reproductive health care from federal, state or private efforts to investigate individuals for receiving those services.
“That order affirms that Northampton is a welcoming city … and recognizes that the horrible cascade of other states’ laws blocking or limiting reproductive healthcare … is resulting in many being forced to turn to states like Massachusetts,” said Mayor Sciarra.
On July 16, the Massachusetts House passed the Shield Act 2.0 to expand protections for personal data of patients and providers. The law also prevents insurance discrimination and legal action against patients and providers based on other states’ laws. The Senate passed a similar bill in June, and now must approve the House version.
Organizers of the July 12 event called on attendees to take action: donate to The MAP, share information about their services with others, contact your legislators about the Shield Act 2.0 and urge your town or city leaders to adapt Mayor Sciarra’s executive order to operationalize the shield law locally.
Event co-organizer Jenifer McKenna summed it up: “supporting The MAP is a concrete and powerful way of saying no to anti-democratic forces seeking to control our bodies and take over our country.”
To learn more about The MAP, see this Ms. magazine interview with Dr. Angel Foster (https://tinyurl.com/2ww5fuuz), listen to her on WHMP or watch this video on their work by Reproductive Equity Now (https://tinyurl.com/4h7fazaf).
Carrie N. Baker is a professor in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender at Smith College and a regular contributor to Ms. Magazine.