Hundreds of pastors from all across Massachusetts are fighting for the lives of unborn babies and mothers in their state.
This week, a letter, signed by more than 400 pastors throughout the state, urged Gov. Charlie Baker to veto a radical pro-abortion bill that would expand late-term abortions and allow young girls to abort their unborn babies with their parents’ knowledge or consent, according to the Boston Herald.
The pastors slammed the bill as a “shocking and callous disregard for human life and the importance of parental involvement in the lives of children.”
Not only would the bill allow late-term unborn babies to be killed, the pastors said it also would allow underage girls to get secret abortions without their parents’ knowledge and weaken state laws that protect newborns from infanticide.
Baker must make a decision about the bill by Dec. 18. According to the Boston Globe, Baker said he is “unhappy” about the measure, which Democrats added as an amendment to the state budget, but he did commit to vetoing it.
ACTION ALERT: Contact Gov. Charlie Baker at 617-725-4005 or email him to ask him to veto the pro-abortion amendment.
Massachusetts Citizens for Life is asking people to contact Baker and state lawmakers and urge them to oppose the pro-abortion amendment.
They asked people to call with the message: “Look me in the eye … and tell us it’s okay for people other than doctors to perform abortions. Tell us it is okay for babies old enough to feel pain to be surgically aborted. Tell us THAT is good for our people and our state.”
Currently, Massachusetts prohibits abortions after 24 weeks except if the mother’s life is at risk. The amendment would expand these exceptions, allowing viable, late-term unborn babies to be aborted if they are diagnosed with a fatal anomaly or “to preserve the patient’s physical or mental health” – a definition that can be widely interpreted.
It also would weaken a state law that protects babies who survive abortions from infanticide, and lower the parental consent age from 18 to 16. Additionally, the amendment would allow non-doctors to abort unborn babies.
The Massachusetts Family Institute describes the amendment as the “Infanticide Act” because it would change a state law that requires abortionists to provide medical care to a baby who survives an abortion, Breitbart reports.
“The reason why this legislation has earned the moniker ‘Infanticide Act’ is because it removes the requirement that an abortionist ‘shall’ save the life of a baby born alive during a botched abortion and replaces it with the requirement to simply have life-saving equipment in the room with no obligation to use it,” the pro-life organization said.
However, Democrat leaders argued that the changes are necessary after pro-life Justice Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court. They fear the high court could restore protections for unborn babies by overturning Roe v. Wade.
Planned Parenthood, NARAL and the American Civil Liberties Union support the pro-abortion amendment.
Meanwhile, outrage is growing. Massachusetts residents, including hundreds of religious leaders, have been contacting their legislators and protesting against the anti-life measure.
In November, more than 300 pastors in the state sent another letter to Baker urging him to veto the bill.
“In 2019 alone, there were 18,593 abortions performed in the Bay State. How much more ‘accessible’ does the murder of unborn children need to be?” they asked. “Abortion ends the life of a human child and puts the physical, mental and emotional health of women, most especially young women, at risk.”
Massachusetts Catholic leaders also are speaking out against the anti-life legislation.
“We are concerned that the amendment, if enacted, would expand abortion access in the Commonwealth well beyond what is currently in state law,” said Boston Archbishop Sean O’Malley, Worcester Bishop Robert McManus and Fall River Bishop Edgar da Cunha in a statement earlier this winter. “Abortion at any time, from the moment of conception to birth, is in direct conflict with Catholic teaching and must be opposed.”
A recent poll by Susan B. Anthony List found strong opposition to the Massachusetts legislation. According to the poll, 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 supports the current state law requiring parental consent before a girl under 18 has an abortion.
Similar legislation passed in New York, Illinois, Vermont and Rhode Island last year, prompting massive outrage. Another pro-abortion bill narrowly failed in New Mexico because of strong public opposition.
ACTION ALERT: Contact Gov. Charlie Baker at 617-725-4005 or email him to ask him to veto the pro-abortion amendment.
