Massachusetts lawmakers OK sweeping abortion access bill
BOSTON (AP) — Massachusetts lawmakers approved a sweeping abortion bill Tuesday aimed in part at building a firewall to protect access to the procedure after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last month.
The bill would protect abortion providers and people seeking abortions from actions taken by other states, including blocking the governor from extraditing anyone charged in another state unless the acts for which extradition was sought would be punishable by Massachusetts law.
The bill also states that access to reproductive and gender-affirming health care services is a right protected by the Massachusetts Constitution; requires the state’s Medicaid program, known as MassHealth, to cover abortions; allows over-the-counter emergency contraception to be sold in vending machines; and requires public colleges and universities to create medication abortion readiness plans for students.
A unique Texas law banning most abortions after about six weeks is enforceable through lawsuits filed by private citizens against doctors or anyone who helps a woman obtain an abortion.
Another item in the Massachusetts bill addresses the question of permitting an abortion for a pregnancy the has lasted 24 weeks or longer.
Under the bill, the abortion would be allowed if, in the best medical judgment of a physician, it is: “(1) necessary to preserve the life of the patient; (2) necessary to preserve the patient’s physical or mental health; (3) warranted because of a lethal fetal anomaly or diagnosis; or (4) warranted because of a grave fetal diagnosis that indicates that the fetus is incompatible with sustained life outside of the uterus without extraordinary medical interventions.”
The vast majority of abortions occur before 20 to 21 weeks of pregnancy, experts said. In 2019, almost 93% of abortions occurred...
