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Healey Signs Law Eliminating Previous Limits on Late-Term Abortion
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed a law eliminating the state’s previous restrictions on abortions after 24 weeks, prompting renewed criticism from pro-life advocates.
BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed legislation Monday eliminating the state’s previous statutory restrictions on abortions performed after 24 weeks of pregnancy. The law, H.5595, replaces the former four-part framework with language allowing an abortion to be performed according to a physician’s professional judgment.
Under the previous law, abortions after 24 weeks were permitted only under specified circumstances, including threats to the mother’s life or physical or mental health, certain fatal fetal diagnoses, or situations in which a child would not be expected to survive outside the womb. The new law removes those statutory conditions and also eliminates a previous hospital requirement.
The legislation passed the House 119-33 on July 22 and the Senate on July 31 before being signed by Healey. Responding to the law, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, urged Republicans to “abandon the ‘leave it to the states’ position” and pursue national protections for unborn children. The organization said abortions during the second and third trimesters are generally performed either by dismemberment or induced labor, which can result in a live birth. Dannenfelser argued that without a national standard, the United States is among only eight countries worldwide that permits abortion at any point in pregnancy.
SBA Pro-Life America also cited a 2024 study from the Charlotte Lozier Institute finding that 46 of 50 European countries restrict abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The institute reported that more than 60,000 abortions occur after 15 weeks annually. Dannenfelser concluded, “We must do all we can to turn the page on America’s ugly chapter of late-term abortion.”
Healey defended the law at the signing ceremony, saying, “We've heard so many stories — stories that are filled with a lot of pain and anguish and heartache and a lot of trauma.”
Previously, the UOJ reported that adults posed as 13-year-old girls to order abortion pills online.
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