The Massachusetts House passed a bill Wednesday that would allow an abortionist to approve an abortion at any point during pregnancy.

The Democrat-controlled House passed House Bill 5595 by a 119-33 vote. Six representatives did not vote. 

The legislation would remove the state’s remaining legal standards for abortions after 24 weeks.

Massachusetts law already allows abortions after 24 weeks under broad exceptions. A doctor can approve one to protect the mother’s life, physical health or mental health. The mental health exception includes the mother’s emotional health. 

State law also allows abortions after 24 weeks if an unborn child has a lethal condition or a condition that would make survival outside the womb unlikely without major medical care.

The new proposal eliminates those standards.

Instead, it states, “An abortion may be performed by a physician based upon the professional judgment of the physician.”

That means one abortionist could approve an abortion at any point during pregnancy.

The measure also prevents a medical review board from overruling the physician and the woman. It also removes the requirement that abortions after 24 weeks take place in a hospital that provides obstetrical care.

The legislation contains no exception for healthy unborn children who could survive outside the womb.

Rep. Kelly Pease, R-Westfield, who voted against it, said Republican lawmakers received little notice that Democratic leaders planned to bring the measure up for a vote.

“I think most of our caucus was, it’s like, where did this come from?” Pease told State House News Service.

“I don’t see how I’m going to be in favor of a bill that allows babies over six months to be terminated when they’re probably viable outside the womb, unless there’s extenuating circumstances, and this kind of just takes away some of the safeguards that were in place before.”

Massachusetts Citizens for Life President Myrna Maloney Flynn called it an abortion-until-birth measure.

“The good intentions of this bill’s sponsors are gravely misplaced,” she said in a statement.

“As written, their abortion-up-to-birth bill permits one physician to subjectively decide that any unborn infant can be killed in or outside of a hospital, even babies capable of surviving outside the womb and feeling pain within it.”

Flynn said women facing serious pregnancy complications deserve support, but the proposal does not provide it.

“Women experiencing unimaginable, heart-wrenching pregnancy complications absolutely deserve all the support they need, but that support is not what this bill provides.”

Several large hospital systems backed the proposal, including Mass General Brigham, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Tufts Medicine and UMass Memorial Health.

“The legislation would remove arbitrary restrictions on abortion care after 24 weeks of pregnancy and instead empower physicians to use their professional judgment and clinical expertise to make decisions in the best interest of their patients,” the groups wrote in a letter to House Speaker Ron Mariano, D-Quincy.

Massachusetts reported 99 abortions at 24 weeks or later in 2024, according to state data. The state reported 84 in 2023. 

Massachusetts lawmakers have expanded abortion several times in recent years.

The Legislature overrode then-Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto and passed the ROE Act in 2020. The law expanded abortions after 24 weeks, eliminated born-alive protections and lowered the age at which a girl can obtain an abortion without parental consent from 18 to 16. 

Lawmakers passed another abortion law in 2022 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The law shields Massachusetts abortion providers from some legal actions brought by states that protect unborn children. It also requires health insurance providers to cover abortion without cost sharing.

Heartlander News previously reported that the 2022 law also required public universities to make plans to provide abortion pills to students or help students obtain them. UMass later spent more than $677,000 to stock abortion pills and comply with the mandate. 

The measure now goes to the Senate, which, if approved, would send it to Democratic Gov. Maura Healey.



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