Gov. Maura Healey (D-MA) on Monday signed a bill passed by the state legislature at the end of July that allows for elective abortion through all weeks of pregnancy based upon the professional judgment of a medical doctor performing the abortion.“We believe that healthcare decisions should be made between women and families and their doctors, not politicians,” Healy said at the bill-signing ceremony. “Abortion will remain safe, it will remain legal, and it will remain accessible here in Massachusetts.”
The law, passed by the Democratic-majority legislature before the summer recess period, repeals a prior law that restricted abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy except in life-threatening circumstances for the mother or child. Healy said during the signing ceremony that there have been many stories “filled with a lot of pain and anguish and heartache and a lot of trauma” from couples who have been told that their child has a life-threatening or life-limiting condition after the prior 24-week cutoff period. Massachusetts joins Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., in eliminating gestational age limits for abortion.
