Pediatricians Condemn Massachusetts Law Expanding Abortion Until Birth

On Monday, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed into law the “Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act,” removing previous statutory restrictions on abortions after 24 weeks and allowing abortions later in pregnancy based on the “professional judgment of the physician.” The Massachusetts law amends Section 12N of Chapter 112 of the General Laws and removes the previously specified circumstances limiting when abortions may be performed at 24 weeks or later.

The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) condemns this expansion of abortion in Massachusetts. Members of the ACPeds Board of Directors and Pro-Life Council released the following statements in response:

Dr. Richard Sandler:

“ACPeds condemns Massachusetts’ newly enacted expansion of abortion law, which removes critical protections for viable preborn children and further entrenches abortion into state law. The new law contains no gestational-age limit on abortion after 24 weeks, meaning even a viable preborn child late in pregnancy may be aborted. Women deserve better. Children deserve protection. And medicine must never lose sight of its obligation to both patients.”

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Dr. Robin Pierucci:

“As pediatricians, we care for children at every stage of development, including babies born prematurely at the same gestational ages at which babies in Massachusetts may now be aborted. Advances in neonatal medicine have made it possible for children born at 24 weeks and even younger to survive and thrive. At the edge of viability, pediatricians and neonatologists routinely care for premature infants, while Massachusetts law now permits an abortion at that same gestational age or later. This is a contradiction in healthcare. The child’s humanity does not change based on whether he or she is inside or outside the womb.  The intentional taking of innocent human life is not health care.”

The American College of Pediatricians calls upon Governor Maura Healey and the Massachusetts Legislature to restore meaningful protections for viable preborn children and reject policies that permit their intentional destruction under the guise of health care.

Click to read ACPeds’ Position Statements on Abortion and Fetal Pain. Click here to read ACPeds’ research papers.