Several Democrat Massachusetts state lawmakers broke with their party and rejected a new law that legalizes killing unborn babies in abortions up until the moment of birth.
Gov. Maura Healey (D) signed the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act on August 10 after the bill passed the state House 119-33 in late July. The bill allows unborn babies to be aborted throughout pregnancy and strikes down the state’s 24-week limit, which had exceptions for the life of the mother and a deadly fetal diagnosis. Under the bill, doctors have the discretion to decide whether or not to perform a late-term abortion.
The governor was surrounded by a gaggle of grinning women who applauded ecstatically as she signed the radical bill. Healey’s stamp of approval aligned Massachusetts with Alaska, Vermont, Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, Minnesota, Michigan, Maryland, New Jersey, and Washington, DC, in allowing unborn babies to be aborted up to the moment of birth.
Nine state House Democrats voted against the bill alongside their Republican colleagues. In speaking to Fox News Digital, several of the Democrats who voted against the bill cited legal and ethical concerns and said it does not align with most of their constituents’ beliefs about abortion.
“This new law represents an extremist and dangerous position,” State Rep. Jeffrey Turco of Winthrop told the outlet. “To be clear, it allows abortion anytime, unrestricted, and in many cases, publicly funded until the moment of birth.”
Turco said the legislation was “rushed through the legislative process in two weeks, without an opportunity for the public to weigh in,” and was “out of step with the views of the average person in Massachusetts.” He called the new law “barbaric.”
State Rep. Chris Markey of Dartmouth told the outlet he is “deeply disappointed” by the passage of the bill and said it “creates a very slippery slope.”
“I believe this law puts doctors in a very difficult ethical dilemma, as well as conflicts with long-standing criminal case law. This law, I believe, is not consistent with the beliefs of the vast majority of my constituents. While many are pro-choice, you can still be pro-choice and see this law as going beyond the norms of acceptability,” Markey said.
State Rep. Dennis Gallagher, a Democrat representing the 8th Plymouth District, said that while he believes abortion should be between a woman and her doctor, there should be more emphasis on alternatives to abortion late in pregnancy, like adoption, when the mother’s health is not in danger. He pointed out that the previous state law already allowed abortions after 24 weeks in cases where the health of the mother is at risk or there are several fetal anomalies.
“At that point in a pregnancy, if the health of the mother is fine and the baby’s health is fine, I just think alternatives should be encouraged for that baby,” he said. “So that’s what I struggled with. But it should always be between a woman and their doctor.”
State Rep. Alan Silvia, who is a pro-life Democrat from Bristol, told the outlet his colleagues are more preoccupied with protecting endangered wildlife than human beings in the womb.
“My position has been consistent: I believe in protecting human life, including the life of the unborn,” Silvia said. “We go to extraordinary lengths as a society to protect vulnerable life, saving whales and saving strays, yet when it comes to an unborn child, that same sense of protection too often seems to disappear.”
Silvia added that he opposes abortion, especially in the later stages of pregnancy, and “will continue to stand by my convictions and vote accordingly.”
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.
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