HARTFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — With the future of Roe v. Wade hanging in the balance, Connecticut is leading the way to expand abortion access and protect those who may be traveling from other states that have outlawed abortion.

Tuesday’s ceremony celebrated the bill that is touted as a first-in-the-nation law that will protect medical providers and patients seeking abortion care in Connecticut.

The law expands who can perform abortions to include advanced practice registered nurses, nurse-midwives, or physician assistants. It also attempts to protect Connecticut providers from legal action stemming from out-of-state laws, as well as the patients who travel to Connecticut to terminate a pregnancy and those who help them.

Democratic Rep. Aimee Berger-Girvalo from Ridgefield spoke about having once had an abortion and being able to speak about it without shame.

“The thing that I ask of you, the plea I am making is that you listen as people tell their story,” Berger-Girvalo said. “What’s happening across the country, what we’ve done here in Connecticut, is giving folks who have never spoken about their abortions an opportunity to do so. Please listen and remember, someone you love has had an abortion, someone you know has had an abortion.”

The Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade that protects the federal right to abortion, according to a draft majority opinion published earlier this month by Politico.

The justices’ votes are often fluid up to the point of an opinion’s publication, and the draft may have changed since February when it was purportedly written. A published opinion from the court is expected sometime within the next two months.

Connecticut’s decades-old law protects a woman’s right to abortion, and that will remain in place, regardless of how the Supreme Court rules.

“You come after our doctors, you try and come after women who come into this state or women who come into this state… not going to happen here,” Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont said. “We’re going to protect you, no subpoenas, no going after, we can counter sue.”

The lead on this bill is Democratic Rep. Matt Blumenthal from Darien, whose father, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D), will be taking on the abortion rights battle in the U.S. Senate this week.