Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont Tuesday attended a ceremonial signing of House Bill 5414, the Reproductive Freedom Defense Act (RFDA). RFDA, which Lamont officially signed into law on May 5, provides significant protections to individuals providing or seeking abortions in Connecticut from restrictive abortion laws in other states.

The bill includes the following protections:

• Expands which medical professionals are allowed to perform first-trimester suction aspiration and medication abortions;
• Protects individuals accused of seeking or providing reproductive healthcare in Connecticut from extradition to states which criminalize it;
• Prohibits state agencies and medical providers from assisting in investigations or prosecutions from other states for reproductive healthcare that is legal in Connecticut;
• Provides for recovery of costs incurred for individuals defending themselves in lawsuits in other states for allegedly providing or receiving support for reproductive services that are legal in Connecticut; and
• Allows patients to consult advanced practice registered nurses, nurse midwives and physicians assistants before obtaining a legal abortion.

In a April 2022 statement, Connecticut Senator Steve Cassano said:

We need to protect a woman’s right to choose, which has been enshrined in United States law for half a century. This legislation takes action to protect our state from overreaching laws from others. As other states pass increasingly restrictive bills, we are countering those bills by protecting residents and visitors alike from others seeking to persecute them. It’s an important step to defend women’s rights in our state.

RFDA does not alter Connecticut’s ban on abortions after viability “except when necessary to preserve the life or health” of the parent.