Bishops push back as Massachusetts governor fast-tracks late-term abortion law

The Catholic bishops of Massachusetts are pushing back on a decision by that state's governor to expedite implementation of a controversial late-term abortion law -- days after tens of thousands of voters called for putting the issue back on the ballot in 2028.

In a Nov. 6 Substack post, Gov. Maura Healey, a Catholic, announced she planned to invoke a state constitutional provision that would see the law -- which removes previous guardrails against late-term abortion, instead requiring only “the professional judgment of the physician" -- take effect as initially scheduled on Nov. 8.

The Repeal188 effort -- the name of which references the chapter of the state’s session law in which the new legislation, titled “An Act Prioritizing Patient Access to Care,” is found -- saw pro-life advocates deliver close over 113,000 voter signatures to the Massachusetts state secretary Oct. 29, demanding a 2028 referendum on the legislation.

However, under Article 48 of the Massachusetts Constitution, the state's governor can declare an act an emergency measure, overriding the automatic suspension triggered by the successful referendum petition.

In her Substack editorial, Healey cited both her Catholic faith and her role as governor in explaining the move, saying the latter in particular entailed a "responsibility" to allow families to "make deeply personal medical decisions."

But Archbishop Richard G. Henning of Boston and the state's Catholic bishops rejected that logic.

"We respectfully and passionately disagree that abortion, the taking of human life, may be considered health care," they said in a Nov. 7 statement posted to the Archdiocese of Boston's website. "We also disagree that there is an emergency requiring the further expansion of the existing and already radically permissive law."

The bishops pointed to Pope Leo XIV's Nov. 7 address to Uruguay President Yamandú Orsi and other public officials, in which the pope declared that "the unborn already belong to the human family."

While Healey has asserted that the new law alleviates the suffering of parents facing a difficult late-term pregnancy diagnosis, the bishops noted that Pope Leo "challenged his listeners" in Uruguay -- a highly secular nation -- to understand that illness, disability, physical pain, and the loss of autonomy do not diminish a person’s value," said the Massachusetts bishops in their statement.

"His words equally apply to Massachusetts," the bishops stressed.

They urged legislators who supported the bill, along with "all men and women of good will, to reconsider the troubling state of our culture and its utilitarian and merciless approach to the elderly, the sick, the vulnerable, and the unborn."

The bishops quoted Pope Leo's declaration -- made in a January address to Vatican-accredited diplomats and repeated in various phrasings, including during his apostolic journey to France -- that "the right to life is the indispensable foundation of every other human right."

They expressed their gratitude to the Repeal188 supporters, as well as "the many voters who participated and raised their voices in the defense of the dignity of every person, no matter how small."

The bishops exhorted Catholics in Massachusetts "to promote life and to assist and accompany expectant mothers and fathers in distress or in crisis."

They added, "We long to see a culture where both mother and child receive the best medical care and the loving support of the family and the community," as well as God's commandment to "choose life," expressed in Deut 30:19-20, "embraced and lived."

"Our work continues as we heed the call of the Gospel to defend life at all stages," said the Massachusetts bishops. "We pray for our Governor and legislators that the Lord may inspire wise and compassionate leadership. We call upon all to support families, especially those in crisis, and to build a culture that supports and loves every member of the human family."