Rebecca Stone, TMM3, on behalf of the Brookline Commission for Women; Valerie Frias, TMM13; Scott Gladstone, TMM16; Anthony Ishak, TMM1; Janice Kahn, TMM15; Alec Lebovitz, TMM8; Arden Reamer, TMM8; Pam Roberts, TMM2; Felina Silver Robinson, TMM3; Chloe Zera, M.D., MPH

Amend the Menstrual Hygiene Product Access By-Law of the Town’s General ByLaws, currently Article 8.39, to change the Article’s duplicative numbering and add provisions relative to reproductive and gender health care

To see if the Town will amend the General By-laws to add the following Article:
[deletions are crossed through; new language is in bold face]

8.39 MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCT ACCESS BY-LAW

8.XX REPRODUCTIVE and GENDER HEALTH ACCESS & EQUITY

Section 8.XX.1 Intent and Purpose

This by-law codifies Brookline’s commitment to access for all to safe, caring, and
equitable reproductive and gender health care and establishes Brookline as a safe
haven for anyone seeking or providing reproductive or gender-affirming health
care, consistent with the amendments to G.L. chapters 12, 218, 223A, 233 set forth
in Chapter 127 of the Acts of 2022, An Act expanding protections for reproductive and
gender-affirming care. Reproductive and gender health protections in Brookline are
specified as including, but not limited to, menstrual regulation or products,
prevention or termination of pregnancy, gender-affirming care, and support for
healthy pregnancy and childbirth.

Section 8.XX.2 MENSTRUAL HYGIENE PRODUCT ACCESS BY-LAW

8.XX.2.i Definitions

8.XX.2.ii Access to Menstrual Hygiene Products
8.XX.2.iii Manner of Dispensing
8.XX.2.iv Green Products
8.XX.2.v Effective Date

Section 8.XX.3 SAFE ACCESS TO LEGALLY PROTECTED HEALTH CARE

8.XX.3.i Definitions

The terms ‘Gender-affirming health care services’, ‘Legally protected health care
activity’, and ‘Reproductive health care services’ shall have the same meanings as
under M.G.L. c. 9A, s. 1.

“Abusive litigation” means litigation or other legal action to deter, prevent, sanction
or punish any person engaging in legally-protected health care activity that is: (i)
filed or prosecuted in any state other than the Commonwealth where liability, in
whole or part, directly or indirectly, is based on legally protected health care
activity that occurred in the Commonwealth, including any action in which liability
is based on any theory of vicarious, joint or several liability derived therefrom; or
(ii) an attempt to enforce any order or judgment issued in connection with any such
action described in subsection (1), by any party to the action or any person acting on
behalf of a party to the action. For purposes of this definition, the term “occurred
in the Commonwealth” means any part of any act or omission which occurs or is
initiated in the Commonwealth, that forms the basis of the litigation or other legal
action described above, whether or not explicitly alleged or included in any of the
pleadings.

“Client” means an individual who is inquiring about or seeking pregnancy-related
or gender-affirming services.

“Health information” means any oral or written information in any form or
medium that relates to health insurance or the past, present, or future physical or
mental health or condition of a client.

“Town agent” means any employee of the Town of Brookline, whether full time or
part time, regular or seasonal, any intern or volunteer when acting on behalf of the
Town of Brookline, any contractor for the Town of Brookline while a contract
between the Town of Brookline and said contractor is in effect, and any recipient of
Town funding, grants, awards, or appropriations.

Section 8.XX.3.ii Protection from Abusive Litigation

a. Acting in their capacity as a Town agent, no Town agent may furnish
information, assistance, or aid to any person or jurisdiction when such
information, assistance, or aid is knowingly intended for use in abusive
litigation as defined in this article, except as so ordered by a court in the
Commonwealth. Additionally, no Town resources, materials, or funds shall
be so used.

b. Acting in their capacity as a Town agent, no Town agent may furnish
information, assistance, or aid to any person or jurisdiction for the purposes
of prohibiting, criminalizing, sanctioning, authorizing a person to bring a
civil action against, or otherwise interfering with a person, entity or carrier
that seeks, receives, causes, aids in access to, aids or abets or provides, or
attempts or intends to seek, receive, cause, aid in access to, aid or abet, or
provide reproductive health care services or gender-affirming health care
services, if such services are legally protected health care activities.
Additionally, no Town resources, materials, or funds shall be so used.

c. Pursuant to G.L. c. 147, § 63 no person, regardless of residency or
citizenship status, shall be held in custody by the Brookline Police
Department, nor remanded, transferred, or extradited to another
jurisdiction for seeking, receiving, causing, aiding in access to, aiding or
abetting or providing, or attempting or intending to seek, receive, cause, aid
in access to, aid or abet, or provide reproductive health care services or
gender-affirming health care services, if such services are legally protected
health care activities, except as required by the order of a court of competent
jurisdiction. This restriction shall not apply to any investigation or
proceeding where the conduct that is subject to potential liability under the
investigation or proceeding initiated in or by the other State would be subject
to civil or criminal liability or professional sanction under the laws of the
Commonwealth if committed in this Commonwealth.

Notwithstanding the general prohibition of this section, agencies and
individuals acting on their behalf may provide information or assistance in
connection with such an investigation or proceeding in response to the
written request of a person who is the subject of such an investigation or
proceeding.

d. All Town agents shall comply with any state law or regulation pertaining to
reproductive and gender-affirming health care not otherwise explicitly stated
in this by-law.

Section 8.XX.3.iii Violations

a. Any Town employee/agent found to have violated this article shall be subject to the
relevant discipline policies of the Town of Brookline, if applicable.

b. Any Town contractor found to have violated this article shall be subject to
review and potential termination of contract.

Section 8.XX.3.iv Severability

The sections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, and phrases of this article are
severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph, or section of this article
shall be declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of
competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the
remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs, and sections of this article.

or act on anything relative thereto.