 | BY KELLY GARRITY AND LISA KASHINSKY | With help from Mia McCarthy ALABAMA IMPACT — Rep. Lori Trahan describes the Alabama Supreme Court decision jeopardizing access to in vitro fertilization in the state as a “gut punch.” “The idea that a family who has gone through every possible option before finally turning to IVF, having that option ripped away from them, is just a pain that I can't imagine,” Trahan told Playbook. Going through IVF treatments is already “harder than you can ever imagine,” she said, and “more grueling than women will ever admit.” The Westford Democrat knows that first hand: IVF made it possible for her to give birth to both her daughters, Grace and Caroline. The process is punishing, physically and emotionally, she said — the daily injections lead to surgery and then to waiting. Oftentimes, it ends in heartbreak. Now, just accessing IVF is getting more difficult. The Alabama ruling that frozen embryos are “children” has rocked the reproductive rights realm and has already led several sites in the state to suspend their IVF services. It’s also setting the stage for a battle at the ballot box — one Trahan, who was recently elected co-chair of House Democrats’ messaging arm, thinks her party can capitalize on. “There are going to be huge ramifications in not just this election, but in every election until women have the full portfolio of rights that they deserve,” she said. “The Republican Party is controlled by people who are not content with just overturning Roe. They want to ban abortion. They want to ban mifepristone and IVF in every state in the country, including here in Massachusetts. And we're not going to let that happen.” Playbook spoke with Trahan about the ruling’s ripple effect in Massachusetts and the other big health care story rocking the state: Steward Health Care and its "disastrous" for-profit model. Here are more excerpts from our conversation:
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Lori Trahan personally underwent IVF treatments. | Jessica Hill/AP | What would you tell the justices who wrote the Alabama decision, as someone who had children through IVF? Shame on you. This is not going to make the lives of people from Alabama better. … What I want to tell women in Alabama: come to Massachusetts. We are happy to care for you here and to give you the opportunity to start a family and we will never give up fighting for you. What does the Alabama ruling mean for Massachusetts? I have no doubt that if IVF continues to fall victim to Republican abortion bans, Massachusetts will continue to be a haven for women in need of care. But don't think that we're not watching this closely, because if more states follow suit — if this gets a hearing at the Supreme Court — that would impact access to IVF everywhere. That’s why this is a call to arms for all women across our country to make sure the stakes are understood for this election. Do you think Steward has a future in Massachusetts? Three of their nine hospitals in the state are in your district — what happens to them? Something would have to dramatically change in order for me to have faith or confidence in their long-term viability. ... I introduced a piece of legislation that would create a special designation for essential hospitals, because there is no Plan B when a community hospital in Lawrence or Haverhill or Lowell shuts down, or has to reduce their services. That's something that a federal designation would help with — it would just change the funding structure to reflect how important these hospitals are to communities. GOOD FRIDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS . Gov. Maura Healey will meet with federal officials in Washington today to lobby for more federal funding for energy programs and for disaster relief, after FEMA denied her request for aid following September's devastating floods. TODAY — Rep. Ayanna Pressley is on WBUR’s “Radio Boston” at 11 a.m. THE WEEKEND — Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, Rep. Stephen Lynch, Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, Auditor Diana DiZoglio, MassDems Chair Steve Kerrigan and other state officials attend the first John Walsh and Democratic Town Committee Chairs’ breakfast at 10 a.m. Saturday in Quincy. AG Andrea Campbell keynotes the 38th Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Brunch at 11:30 a.m. Saturday in Cambridge. SUNDAY SHOWS — MBTA Advisory Board Executive Director Brian Kane is on WBZ’s “Keller @ Large” at 8:30 a.m. Sunday. Boston City Councilor Brian Worrell is on WCVB’s “On the Record” at 11 a.m. Sunday. Boston planning chief Arthur Jemison and state Sen. John Keenan are on NBC10 Boston’s “At Issue” at 11:30 a.m. Sunday. Tips? Scoops? Birthdays? Email us: kgarrity@politico.com and lkashinsky@politico.com.
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| CHRIS SUNUNU is destroying his credibility - recently got approval to send NH NATIONAL GUARD to the southern border by promoting the REPUBLICAN MYTHOLOGY that immigrants are bringing in DRUGS - that's not where FENTANYL is coming from CHRIS! TRY FACTS!
‘ASSHOLES COME AND GO’ — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu still believes the Republican Party can and will move on from Donald Trump even after the former president won the Granite State GOP primary by 11 percentage points and appears on a glidepath to his third party nomination. “It won’t be his party forever. Right? It just won’t,” Sununu told our colleague Eugene Daniels at POLITICO’s Governors Summit . “Let me put it a different way: Assholes come and go. But America is here to stay.” Sununu has to hope that’s true. Trump returning to the top of the ticket is trouble for down-ballot Republicans in both New Hampshire and Massachusetts. “That’s my biggest concern. And if there’s any reason why I [didn’t] support Trump in the primary,” Sununu, who backed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, said, “is because I’m not going to be governor, but I want to win the governorship. I keep losing a congressional seat that we should be winning, school board seats that Republicans should be winning, because we’re always answering [for Trump].” Meanwhile, Sununu cast the failed federal border deal — which Democratic Gov. Maura Healey lobbied hard for — as a “red herring” and blamed President Joe Biden for taking executive action that worsened the border crisis. An “immigration bill is not needed to secure the border,” Sununu said. “It was the president that created [the problem] and he’s gotta take ownership.” We think Healey would largely disagree.
| | DATELINE BEACON HILL |
| — “Legislation updating sex education in Massachusetts moving toward vote on Beacon Hill,” by Chris Van Buskirk, Boston Herald: “Legislation requiring sex education in Massachusetts schools to be inclusive of all identities and use ‘medically accurate, age-appropriate, and comprehensive’ information started advancing Thursday toward a vote in the Senate, which could come next week. Supporters of the proposal, dubbed the ‘Healthy Youth Act,’ said the law will make clear that sex and relationship education in Massachusetts must cover LGBTQ+ identities and experiences while emphasizing consent in relationships.” — “Russia divestment promises largely unfulfilled,” by Christian M. Wade, The Eagle-Tribune: “Nearly two years after Massachusetts moved to strip the state’s retirement fund of Russian-tied stocks and other holdings in response to its war in Ukraine, that pledge remains largely unfulfilled. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 state lawmakers approved a $1.6 billion bipartisan supplemental spending bill that called for divesting the state's pension fund of an estimated $140 million in investments tied to the country. But nearly two years after the much publicized move, little has changed. … The state's pension fund still has an estimated $140 million in investments tied to Russia, according to Treasurer Deb Goldberg, whose office oversees the retirement system.”
| | FROM THE HUB |
| — “New coalition wants Boston to give ranked choice voting another shot,” by Hannah Loss, GBH News: “After Massachusetts voters rejected a 2020 ballot initiative for ranked choice voting in most state and federal elections, a new coalition is zeroing in on changing elections at the municipal level. ‘In Boston ... we saw a significant amount of support for ranked choice voting in 2020 and see it as a great opportunity — this go-round — to bring about ranked choice voting for the residents here in the city,’ NAACP President Tanisha Sullivan told Boston Public Radio on Thursday.”
| | DAY IN COURT |
| — “Sixth retired Mass. State Trooper arraigned in federal court in commercial driver’s license scheme,” by Tonya Alanez, The Boston Globe: “Retired state Trooper Perry Mendes on Thursday became the sixth person to plead not guilty in a scheme involving the approval of commercial driver’s licenses by members of the Massachusetts State Police in exchange for gifts.”
| | FROM THE DELEGATION |
| TREK TO TAIWAN — Rep. Seth Moulton traveled to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday with the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party. The bipartisan group met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and the new President-elect Lai Ching-te . “Just like Putin is watching, so is Xi Jinping,” Moulton said in a statement urging the House to pass a foreign aid package. “If we abandon Ukraine now, if we fail to provide aid to Taiwan — that could prove disastrous for our national security in the future.” POD PREVIEW — Rep. Ayanna Pressley is the featured guest on this week’s episode of Sen. Ed Markey ’s podcast. Markey and his “partner in progressive politics” celebrate the Green New Deal’s 5th birthday (sans cake) and talk fare-free transit. — “In Watertown visit, Senator Warren and FTC head Lina Khan look to jumpstart right-to-repair,” by Hiawatha Bray, The Boston Globe: “Massachusetts US Senator Elizabeth Warren has no idea why it’s taking so long for a federal court to approve the 2020 state law that gives consumers a right to access the digital information that controls their cars. But in a Thursday visit to a Boston-area auto repair shop, Warren hoped to generate fresh momentum for the right-to-repair movement in a state where it’s overwhelmingly popular with voters.” — “Warren warns of nationwide abortion ban if Republicans win big in November,” by John L. Micek, MassLive.
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| | Don’t sleep on it. Get breaking New York policy from POLITICO Pro—the platform that never sleeps—and use our Legislative Tracker to see what’s on the Albany agenda. Learn more. | | | | | | | IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN |
| — “Mixed messages on Vineyard Wind,” by Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Beacon: “Massachusetts officials on Thursday gushed about the progress on Vineyard Wind, but one of the developers of the wind farm cautioned financial analysts that the project may not be fully completed this year as forecasted.”
| | FROM THE 413 |
| SPRINGFIELD’S REQUEST — The Springfield City Council approved a plan to petition the state to allow Deputy Police Chief Lawrence Akers to work past the mandatory retirement age of 65 so he can head up the police department, the Springfield Republican’s Jeanette DeForge reports . Matt Szafranski of Western Mass. Politics & Insight has a deep dive on the request and other changes the city is considering to the Police Commission.
| | WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD BE READING |
| — “Major barriers persist for former prisoners who need IDs,” by Maeve Lawler, GBH News. — “Five months later, Worcester still evaluating options for police chief search,” by Marco Cartolano, Telegram & Gazette. — “Biden loan forgiveness to save Mass. borrowers $19.5M,” by Christian M. Wade, The Salem News.
| | MEANWHILE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE |
| STAFFING UP — President Joe Biden ’s campaign has hired five more general-election staffers in New Hampshire after skipping the state’s Democratic primary, the Union Leader’s Kevin Landrigan reports.
| | HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH |
| TRANSITIONS — The Massachusetts AFL-CIO promoted senior organizer Brian Dunn and organizer Lindsay Kenney to the posts of political director and legislative director, respectively. — Frank Mendoza is Boston’s new deputy director of the Office of Neighborhood Services. Ben Tayag is new neighborhood liaison for West Roxbury. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to former state Rep. Lenny Mirra, Bob McGovern and Neil Levesque. HAPPY BIRTHWEEKEND — to former acting Gov. Jane Swift; Sarah Groh, chief of staff to Rep. Ayanna Pressley; Benjamin Kail, Vicki DiLorenzo and Boston City Councilor Sharon Durkan, who celebrate Saturday; and to Sunday birthday-er Jack Dew. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com . | |
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