Massachusetts' bishops are slamming their so-called Catholic governor, Maura Healey, over the unrestricted abortion bill she signed into law back on August 10. Last Friday, Healey attached an emergency preamble to that legislation, making the law take effect immediately.

That action also prevented pro-lifers from suspending the law ahead of a 2028 statewide referendum on the issue. Healey cited her Catholic faith for doing so, writing in a Substack post, "I am Catholic, and my faith is an important part of who I am. It has shaped my understanding of service, responsibility and our obligation to care for others. My faith teaches me to meet people with compassion, respect their dignity, and approach suffering with humility. I am also Governor for people of every faith and belief. My responsibility is to ensure that every family can make deeply personal medical decisions according to their own circumstances, values and the guidance of their doctors."

Bishops said this is a "utilitarian and merciless approach" to human life.

Here's more:

Over the weekend, Boston Archbishop Richard Henning and the bishops who lead the state’s three other Catholic dioceses criticized Healey’s rationale.

“Having read the Governor’s editorial defending her decision to override the results of the Repeal188 efforts, we respectfully and passionately disagree that abortion, the taking of human life, may be considered health care. We also disagree that there is an emergency requiring the further expansion of the existing and already radically permissive law,” the bishops said Saturday, Nov. 7 in a written statement, which was also signed by Worcester Bishop Robert McManus, Fall River Bishop Edgar da Cunha, and Springfield Bishop William Byrne.

Before Healey’s action, Massachusetts state abortion law, which was amended in 2020, previously allowed unlimited abortions up to 24 weeks and after that to save the life or the “physical or mental health” of the mother or if “the fetus is incompatible with sustained life outside the uterus.”

The new statute enacted by the governor Friday removes those limitations, stating instead that abortions at any time in pregnancy “may be performed by a physician based upon the professional judgment of the physician.”

While on a visit in Uruguay, Pope Leo XIV told leaders that unborn children "already belong to the human family" and that their reliance on their mother "does not diminish the dignity to which they are entitled or the protection they deserve."

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The bishops called on legislators to "reconsider the troubling state of our culture and its utilitarian and merciless approach to the elderly, the sick, the vulnerable, and the unborn." They did not formally excommunicate Healey or any other Catholic legislators who passed the bill, and it's unclear what would happen if Healey presented herself for communion.

Abortion is prohibited in Catholic teaching, including supporting or helping another procure abortion. Healey is wrongly hiding behind her faith to excuse what the Church always classifies as a grave, mortal sin.

That is an excellent question. Rome has been harder on traditional Catholics than American politicians who blatantly and openly defy Catholic teaching.

This is correct, but a formal note of excommunication would set a good example and show people that the Catholic Church doesn't only criticize Republicans. That never happens, though.