August 1, 2026

The Massachusetts Senate passes an abortion expansion bill in final hours of session

REGIONAL
Staff report

(IObserve file photo)

SPRINGFIELD – The Massachusetts Catholic Conference (MCC) has confirmed reports that in the closing hours of the two-year legislative session, the Massachusetts State Senate passed legislation removing restrictions on late-term abortion performed past 24-weeks. According to the Boston Globe the Senate passed the bill on Thursday, July 30, “on a 15-4 standing vote, meaning fewer than half of the chamber’s members weighed in and without a record of who voted in favor of the bill.” The bill now goes to the governor for her signature.

On Wednesday, July 22, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed the companion bill, H. 5595, An Act Prioritizing Patient Access to Care, by a vote of 119-33.

Currently, the law permits abortion after 24 weeks if a doctor deems it necessary to preserve the life of the mother; if it is necessary to preserve the mother’s physical or mental health; if there is a fetal anomaly. This legislation removes those restrictions.

Earlier this week, as word got out about this last-minute legislative move, the MCC released a statement by the four bishops of the Catholic dioceses in Massachusetts objecting on moral grounds to this effort.

They wrote, “(A)s Catholic bishops, we have a moral responsibility to present and uphold Catholic teaching and the sacred God-given dignity of every human life from conception to the natural death. The proposed elimination of any legal restraint on late-term abortion is, in our judgement, a radical measure which is gravely immoral.”

Massachusetts Citizens for Life (MCFL) is urging people to email Governor Maura Healey, releasing a statement which read, “Governor Healey now has the opportunity to reconsider the implications of this legislation and ensure that women’s safety and the protection of unborn children are not overlooked in the name of expanded abortion access.”

To urge Governor Healey to veto this bill, go to:

https://www.masscitizensforlife.org/legislative_action_center