Massachusetts Democrats have taken a page from New York’s radical left and are pushing a bill to legalize abortion at any time during the pregnancy.
Currently, abortions in the state are banned after 24 weeks unless the woman’s life is in danger due to the pregnancy or, if the pregnancy would pose a “grave impairment of her physical or mental health.” The bill, known as the Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access Act (ROE Act), would get rid of the “grave impairment” language so that an abortion could take place after 24 weeks if the pregnancy risks “her physical or mental health, or in cases of lethal fetal anomalies, or where the fetus is incompatible with sustained life outside the womb.”
The bill would give doctors much more latitude in deciding to conduct abortions and would delete the section in current Massachusetts law that requires doctors to “take all reasonable steps … to preserve the life and health of the aborted child,” including having life-supporting equipment in the room. It would also repeal existing law that requires a minor to get her parents’ consent before an abortion.
“The ROE Act breaks down barriers to ensure that women are able to receive appropriate medical care, according to a physician’s best judgment, in tragic circumstances when there are lethal abnormalities or a risk to the woman’s life during the course of a pregnancy,” state Sen. Harriette Chandler, the bill’s sponsor in the Senate, told the Washington Examiner. “The law should reflect that these are very difficult decisions that should be made between a woman and her doctor.” (Washington Examiner)
Similar legislation is being considered in New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Vermont, as progressives fear that Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation to the Supreme Court will be the beginning of the end of Roe v. Wade.
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