EASTHAMPTON — Groups championing reproductive rights are urging Easthampton city councilors to override the mayor’s veto of an ordinance around reproductive and gender-affirming care at Wednesday’s council.

The ordinance, would protect people seeking reproductive and gender-affirming services in the city from being reported to other states. It would also require that the city disseminate to the public relevant information from the Massachusetts Department of Health around such issues.

“We need our lawmakers on all levels, municipal, state, and federal, to protect and expand access to reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare in the dire post-Roe reality,” read a letter to the council from 16 reproductive equity groups, including Abortion Truth Campaign, Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts, and Collective Power for Reproductive Justice.

Other groups, including Reproductive Equity Now, Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund, and a group of local youth, have also sent letters to councilors in advance of Wednesday’s meeting when the ordinance is expected to be discussed. The meeting will be held remotely at 6 p.m. amid ongoing air quality concerns in the Easthampton Municipal Building. 

The council passed the ordinance on July 6, with six votes in favor and one vote against the measure. Councilor James Kwiecinski abstained from voting, and Councilor Daniel Rist was not present at the meeting. 

The next day, Mayor Nicole LaChapelle vetoed the ordinance, the first time she had used that power.

In a memo to City Council President Homar Gomez, LaChapelle wrote that the ordinance would not strengthen individual rights beyond what already exists in state law, and that despite legal merit, the measure would face legal challenges adding up to costly repercussions for the city.

Jenifer McKenna, a founding member of Abortion Truth Campaign, one of the reproductive rights groups that signed the letter, disagreed with the mayor, saying, “While our state lawmakers and administration are taking action on the state level, public health issues and threats are playing out on the ground… Local government has a really important role to play in terms of addressing those issues and raising awareness.”

LaChapelle said she had no further comment, but said she will be present at Wednesday’s meeting.

According to the city’s charter, the council can override a mayor’s veto by a vote of two-thirds of the full council, or six yes votes.

Groups urging the councilors to proceed with an override said that “the veto runs in direct opposition to years of work to establish rights to reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare against a constant assault against bodily autonomy and access to information.”

“This is a vote for honesty and truth, and for upholding basic human rights,” reads the letter.

Opponents of the ordinance have voiced concerns with the ordinance’s potential impact on the Bethlehem House, which was vandalized last year after two public hearings on the previous version of the ordinance.

Opponents have also argued that the ordinance poses legal troubles for the city, along with moral concerns.

Another letter signed by three youth activists along with Generation Ratify Amherst — a youth group working to advance gender justice in the U.S. — urged the council to vote in favor of the ordinance for the sake of protecting the right to bodily autonomy for years to come.

“As youth, it’s our future,” said Alice Jenkins, a 17-year-old Westhampton resident and one of the signers of the youth letter to city councilors. “We think that by pushing this through and passing the ordinance, it would kind of be like the city standing up for us and our futures.”

In the letter, a Williston Northampton School student, Ava Smith, said, “An ordinance such as this gives me confidence that our individual healthcare and freedoms are protected and valued. This way, Easthampton can set a precedent for protecting reproductive healthcare.”

“I think this is overwhelming evidence as to what the appropriate decision is to make here,” said At-Large Councilor Owen Zaret, who co-sponsored the ordinance, in response to letters from nearly 20 groups in support of a veto override. “These are the people who make it their life’s work to navigate reproductive justice. When all these groups come out overwhelmingly saying they are disappointed in the mayor’s veto… I think it’s a no-brainer.”

“I just hope that people understand the gravity behind this, that this vote is a significant historical event in terms of reproductive freedoms and reproductive justice,” said Zaret.

Maddie Fabian can be reached at mfabian@gazettenet.com or on Twitter @MaddieFabian.]]>