Massachusetts Bill Would Remove “Mother” and “Unborn Child” From Legal Definition of Pregnancy

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Mar 11, 2019   |   4:46PM   |   Boston, Massachusetts

A Massachusetts bill would hide the truth about abortion by stripping the terms “mother” and “unborn child” from the legal definition of pregnancy.

The state Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access Act (ROE Act) is similar to a radical new pro-abortion law in New York that legalized abortion for basically any reason up to birth. The Massachusetts bill would expand late-term abortions after 24 weeks for any loosely defined “health” reason, and repeal the state law requiring parental consent for minors. It also would end the state law that requires basic medical care for infants born alive from botched abortions.

Michael Forrest at the National Catholic Register found even more disturbing changes when he examined the language of the bill in comparison to current state law.

“… in the spirit of Orwell’s 1984, pro-abortion governmental forces in Massachusetts are rushing to redefine key words and concepts in order avoid the danger that people might actually think about what abortion really is, and what it does,” Forrest wrote.

To avoid any hint that an abortion is a violent, life-destroying act, the bill would remove “unborn child” and “mother” from the legal definitions of pregnancy and abortion.

According to the report:

Current wording of Massachusetts General Law 112, section 12K:

Abortion: the knowing destruction of the life of an unborn child or the intentional expulsion or removal of an unborn child from the womb other than for the principal purpose of producing a live birth or removing a dead fetus.

Pregnancy: the condition of a mother carrying an unborn child.

Unborn child: the individual human life in existence and developing from implantation of the embryo in the uterus until birth.

Replacement wording of ROE Act:

Abortion: any medical treatment intended to induce the termination of a clinically diagnosable pregnancy except for the purpose of producing a live birth. The term abortion does not include miscarriage management.

Pregnancy: means the presence of an implanted human embryo or fetus within a person’s uterus.

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Forrest called it “abortspeak,” an attempt to obscure the truth about abortion through language. The simple scientific fact is that an abortion destroys the life of a unique, individual human being in a violent way. But the pro-abortion movement has been trying to hide this from the public for decades. It uses terms like “choice,” “reproductive rights” and “health care” rather than abortion. Abortion activists almost never say “baby,” instead preferring “fetus,” “clump of cells” or even just “the pregnancy.”

Across the country, pro-abortion Democrats are pushing similar bills based on fears that the U.S. Supreme Court justices may overturn Roe v. Wade and allow states to begin protecting unborn babies’ lives again. Bills are being considered in New Mexico, Vermont and Rhode Island. Another pro-abortion bill was defeated in Virginia.

ACTION: Contact the Massachusetts legislature with your opposition.