June 19, 2024

Catholic constituents meet with Rep. Carey about abortion expansion bill

REGIONAL
By Carolee McGrath

EASTHAMPTON – A few dozen people gathered at Easthampton City Hall Monday, June 17, to meet with Rep. Daniel Carey (D), representing the Second Hampshire District, to dissuade him from supporting House Bill 1599, “An Act Enhancing Access to Abortion Care.” The meeting was arranged the Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI) which also arranged a previous meeting with Senator John Velis in March.

“Do you know what an abortion procedure is? Most people don’t. It’s barbaric. It’s not a woman’s choice to take the life of her child. It’s not healthcare,” said Kathy Parson, from MFI, directing her comments to Rep. Carey.

House Bill 1599 would allow a girl of any age to consent to an abortion and eliminate the need for a judge to sign off on an abortion done without parental consent. Current law requires parental consent if a girl is under 16.

The bill would also eliminate conscientious objections for doctors and nurses; eliminates safety regulations for late term abortions and further targets pregnancy resource centers. This would be on top of Gov. Maura Healy’s $1 million media campaign highlighting the so-called “dangers and potential harm of anti-abortion centers,” launched last week.

“We had a lot of sets of twins over the last 20 years and the only center to have eight sets of triplets,” said Pam Hibbard, the director of Bethlehem House, a pregnancy resource center in Easthampton. She invited Rep. Carey to tour her center which gives out free diapers, baby clothes, car seats and other needed baby supplies to women in need.

“We gave out 121 baby baskets this year. We stay with the mom for two years of the baby’s life. When people say crisis pregnancy centers are so bad, I have never heard why. I think they say we’re bad because we are taking away business from the abortion industry,” Hibbard said, adding that the non-profit Bethlehem House is run by volunteers.

Judy Cross, a board member of Clearway Clinics located in both Springfield and Worcester, also spoke about efforts to discredit PRCs.

“We do ultrasounds. We have registered nurses on staff. We have doctors who read the ultrasounds. We are a licensed medical clinic,” said Cross. “We are very clear that we do not refer for abortion services. We truly empower women to make an informed choice,” said Cross. Clearway Clinic also offers the abortion reversal pill which has successfully saved babies from chemical abortion.

“We are the number one target. If there is anything that the abortion industry hates is that a medical abortion can be stopped,” she said.

Rep. Carey asked Cross about the window in which the abortion reversal pill is successful. He was a co-sponsor of the Roe Act in 2020 which expanded abortion through the ninth month of pregnancy and lowered the age of consent from 18 to 16.

“I always welcome an opportunity to hear directly from constituents about the issues that are important to them,” said Carey to IObserve.

“It is valuable for me to hear from supporters and opponents of bills as our legislative committees look into each bill. I will continue to look further into the bills and issues that were brought up at Monday’s meeting.”

There is a planned Celebration of Life Day at the Massachusetts State House on Tuesday, June 25 where constituents will visit lawmakers to discuss proposed legislation that affect life issues.