Gov. Maura Healey signed legislation Monday stripping away Massachusetts' 24-week gestational limit on abortion, making the state one of ten in the country with no cutoff on how late in pregnancy the procedure can be performed.
The "Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act" replaces the state's previous statute which required a threat to the mother's life or a fatal fetal diagnosis to justify a late-term abortion. There is now a single requirement: the "professional judgment of the physician." The law also drops the requirement that abortions after 24 weeks take place in a hospital and expands the state's "shield law" protections for providers against out-of-state investigations, taking effect in 90 days.
The Massachusetts House passed the bill 119-33 on July 22, every Republican who voted opposed. The Senate followed 15-4 on July 31.
Healey, campaigning for reelection, tied the signing to national politics, vowing the law would guarantee abortion access "no matter what Donald Trump or Republicans in Congress or the Supreme Court does." She also took aim directly at her opposition, telling reporters, "My opponents are anti-abortion. One of my opponents, Mike Minogue, is proudly anti-abortion."
Minogue, a Republican businessman challenging Healey this fall, has said he's a practicing Catholic who personally opposes abortion but would "uphold" whatever the law requires as governor. His GOP primary rival, Brian Shortsleeve, has staked out a "pro-choice Republican" position and said through a spokesman he would have signed the bill.
The Massachusetts Family Institute had urged Healey to veto the measure, calling it "a dangerous attempt to remove virtually all remaining protections in the Commonwealth for unborn babies."
State data shows 99 abortions were performed at 24 weeks or later in 2024, up from 84 the year before.
