Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has signed the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, eliminating the state's previous gestational limits on abortion and making it the 10th state to allow the procedure up until birth. The bill grants healthcare workers greater discretion in performing abortions later in pregnancy without facing legal penalties.
Healey stated the law is intended to ensure that families experiencing medical complications or fatal diagnoses late in pregnancy can obtain abortions in Massachusetts rather than traveling out of state. She pledged to maintain abortion access in the state, asserting that healthcare decisions should be made between patients and their doctors, not politicians.
The legislation is set to take effect in 90 days. Previously, Massachusetts law generally prohibited abortions after 24 weeks of gestation, with limited exceptions.
Mamaura Healey signing a bill to expand late-term abortion access, surrounded by smiling people.
Massachusetts now joins Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia, in removing gestational age limits on abortion. Healey characterized the signing as a stance in support of women and framed the legislation as a safeguard against national efforts to restrict abortion access following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade.
“It is up to the states to lead,” Healey said, vowing to ensure continued access to reproductive healthcare in Massachusetts regardless of federal actions.
SBA Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser criticized the new law, describing it as "egregious" and arguing that late-term abortions involve fetal dismemberment. Dannenfelser stated that the United States is among a small number of countries that permit abortion throughout pregnancy, citing Australia, Canada, China, Guinea-Bissau, Mexico, South Korea, and Vietnam as others that allow such procedures at any point in pregnancy. She called for national protections for unborn children.