Massachusetts Catholic bishops are urging people to stand up against the push to legalize abortions up to birth in their state.
The Boston Pilot reports the Massachusetts Catholic Conference hopes to raise awareness about the radical pro-abortion legislation this weekend through bulletin inserts and other educational efforts.
Massachusetts could become the next New York state if state House Bill 3320/Senate Bill 1209 pass the state legislature. Nicknamed the R.O.E. Act, the legislation would legalize abortions for basically any reason up to birth. Though the legislation technically restricts abortions after 24 weeks, it allows wide exceptions for abortions after that point. The bill also would allow infanticide by repealing a state law that requires basic medical care for viable infants who survive abortions.
According to the Pilot, the legislation would force state taxpayers to pay for abortions and remove common sense health regulations, including a requirement that late-term abortions be done in hospitals and that an underage girl receive her parent’s consent prior to having an abortion.
“With your help and the help of your family, friends, and neighbors, we must make every effort to ensure that these bills do not become law in Massachusetts,” Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley wrote in a recent letter to the priests in his diocese. “Your voice and the voices of all opposed to unprecedented expansion of abortion will make a difference. It is of critical importance that the women and men who represent us in the Legislature know where we stand on the protection of life.”
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Massachusetts pro-lifers are working in many ways to protect babies and mothers from the devastation of abortion, including through rallies, pregnancy resource centers, awareness campaigns and more.
If the R.O.E. Act passes, Massachusetts could join New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Illinois in allowing unborn babies to be aborted for basically any reason up to birth.
The Massachusetts legislation states that unborn babies may be aborted in the third trimester for a wide variety of “health” reasons.
“Medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors—physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the person’s age—relevant to the well-being of the patient,” the bill states in reference to late-term abortions for “health” reasons.
Under these terms, healthy, viable unborn babies may be aborted for basically any reason up to birth.
Most Americans oppose late-term abortions. A 2019 poll by the Susan B. Anthony List found that 62 percent of Massachusetts voters oppose late-term abortions, including 49 percent of Democrat and 66 percent of independent voters. The same number, 62 percent, also support the current state law requiring parental consent before a girl under 18 has an abortion, the poll found.
Pro-abortion groups backing the bill include NARAL, Planned Parenthood, the ACLU and the Massachusetts Family Planning Association.
ACTION: Contact Massachusetts state lawmakers and urge opposition to House Bill 3320/Senate Bill 1209.
