Testimony of Anne LaMonica
Associate Director
in Opposition to Provisions of
S.B. 295, AN ACT CONCERNING STATE
LAW PROTECTIONS FOR HEALTH CARE
PROVIDERS AND PATIENTS RELATED TO THE
PROVISION OF A LEGALLY PROTECTED HEALTH
CARE ACTIVITY
Judiciary Committee
Public Hearing
March 2, 2026
The Connecticut Catholic Public Affairs Conference opposes S.B. 295.
S.B. 295 amends Connecticut's recently passed shield laws to expand legal protections for practitioners and facilitators of abortions and cross-sex treatments for residents in other states.
The Conference continues to object to these shield laws, the expansion of which generates concerns beyond the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion and cross-sex treatments that violate the integrity of the human body and life itself.
The bill's inclusion of telehealth purposefully threatens comity among states by claiming to allow prescribers to reach into another state, without licensure in such state, and treat residents in that state in violation of that state’s laws. The presence of some Connecticut conduct does not eliminate another state's legitimate interest in effects in that state, and it does not make that state's judgment invalid. Pending federal claims and intervention will likely settle these conflicts.
Finally, the expansion of these laws to include telehealth services is an attack on families in other states. Shielding telehealth treatment of minors in other states undermines their parents’ liberty interests in their care, custody, and management. Connecticut should refrain from imposing its will upon those families who live in states with laws passed by their duly elected representatives.