Ignoring calls for a veto, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed a bill Friday that pro-life leaders warned will allow unborn babies to be aborted for basically any reason up to birth.
Baker, a pro-abortion Republican, praised the legislation in a statement, saying it will expand abortions in Massachusetts in response to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade earlier this summer.
“Massachusetts remains steadfast in its commitment to protect access to reproductive health care services, especially in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade,” Baker said.
But Massachusetts Citizens for Life executive director Patricia D. Stewart slammed state House Bill 5090 as “deadly,” saying it will allow late-term abortions for basically any reason up to birth and force public colleges and universities to provide abortion drugs on campus.
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Additionally, Massachusetts Citizens for Life said the bill:
• creates a dangerous plan to allow abortionists to do abortions in states that outlaw them;
• permits pharmacists to dispense chemical abortions without a doctor’s order;
• protects abortionists from legal action by other states where abortion is illegal;
• prevents MA law enforcement from cooperating with out-of-state legal authorities;
• mandates that Planned Parenthood and similar groups help write regulations.
Father Frank Pavone of Priests for Life also criticized the governor.
“Massachusetts already makes it hard to get out of the womb alive but this new law will ensure that even babies way beyond the point of viability are able to be killed,” Father Pavone said. “The mental health exception to the existing 24-week limit is, as we have seen over the last 50 years, a license to kill these fully developed human beings. Pro-lifers in the state have their work cut out for them, beginning with the Sept. 6 primary,” he continued.
He told LifeNews: “Gov. Baker is not seeking re-election. Voters in the state should carefully evaluate the pro-life stance of each candidate and vote for the candidate most likely to offer the most protection to unborn life.”
The bill puts into state law several measures that Baker created through an executive order in June to protect abortionists from prosecution. Among other things, it prohibits Massachusetts authorities from helping pro-life states in their investigations and prosecutions of abortionists who abort unborn babies in violation of their laws.
“This new legislation signed today builds on that action by protecting patients and providers from legal interference from more restrictive laws in other states,” Baker said. “We are grateful for the compromise and dedication to the issue that our legislative colleagues demonstrated to make this important, bipartisan law a reality.”
Massachusetts has very few limits on abortion. In 2019, there were 18,593 abortions reported in the state, according to the Charlotte Lozier Institute.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers also are going after the pro-life advocates who are trying to protect unborn babies from abortion.
Two cities, Cambridge and Somerville, recently passed ordinances to fine pro-life pregnancy resource centers for vague “deceptive” advertising, and two others, East Hampton and Worcester, are considering similar measures this summer, according to the National Catholic Register.
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat who represents Massachusetts, recently called for pregnancy centers to be completely shut down, claiming they “torture” women by providing free counseling, pregnancy tests, diapers and cribs.
Here’s more from the Register:
In 2021, Massachusetts pro-life pregnancy centers served almost 3,000 women, providing more than 1,500 pregnancy tests and more than 1,200 ultrasounds free of charge, [Stewart] said.
These centers also distributed over $250,000 worth of free goods last year, including 20,000 packages of diapers and 1,000 packages of baby wipes, Stewart noted.
“They are an essential, yet often overlooked, part of the communities they serve,” she said. “Motivated purely by selfless love and respect for God’s gift of life, they continue to assist desperate women in need and their unborn children.”
Under Roe, more than 63 million unborn babies were aborted in the United States. The 1973 ruling forced states to legalize abortion on demand up to viability and allowed abortions up to birth. Now, because of the Dobbs ruling, states may protect unborn babies by banning abortions again, and more than a dozen have done so. The Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates more than 110,000 unborn babies are being saved from abortion as a result of the pro-life laws currently in place.
