Massachusetts Senate Passes Late-Term Abortion Bill to Governor

The bill, formally titled “An Act Prioritizing Patient Access to Care” or H.5595, passed the Democrat-controlled Senate on Friday and would dismantle the state’s existing 24-week abortion limit, according to Breitbart News. The current law includes exceptions for cases involving the mother’s life or a fatal fetal diagnosis.

Under the proposed legislation, physicians would be granted broad discretion to perform late-term abortions throughout pregnancy, with no specific gestational cutoff mandated by law, the Washington Post reported.

Myrna Maloney Flynn, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, voiced strong opposition to the measure in a video statement urging residents to contact their representatives. While this legislation prioritizes access, it does not prioritize a woman’s safety, Flynn warned in her appeal to lawmakers.

Should Governor Healey sign the bill into law, Massachusetts will join approximately a dozen other jurisdictions across the United States that impose no gestational restrictions on abortion. According to Abortion Finder, Alaska, Vermont, Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, Minnesota, Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, and Washington, DC, currently allow abortions at any point during pregnancy.

The state House of Representatives passed the legislation last week by a vote of 119 to 33. State Representative Alyson Sullivan-Almeida, a Republican, described the vote as a dark moment for the commonwealth.

Sullivan-Almeida emphasized the radical nature of the change, noting that the law would permit abortion up until the moment of birth for a healthy, viable baby. The precedent being established represents a dramatic shift in state policy, she said.

Republican state Representative Joseph McKenna also criticized the measure, characterizing it as a significant expansion of what he called an already extremely progressive abortion regime in Massachusetts.

With information from Breitbart News