Even Some Democrats Slam Maura Healey for Signing “Barbaric” Abortions Up to Birth

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey this week signed a new law that effectively allows abortions up to the moment of birth and has drawn rare public rebukes from fellow Democrats.

The radical measure passed the state House of Representatives 119-33 on July 22, mostly along party lines. Healey, a Democrat, signed it into law this week.

Nine House Democrats voted against the bill.

State Rep. Jeffrey Turco of Winthrop called it “an extremist and dangerous position.”

“To be clear, it allows abortion anytime, unrestricted, and in many cases, publicly funded until the moment of birth,” Turco said. “The new law is barbaric.”

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He noted the bill was “rushed through the legislative process in two weeks, without an opportunity for the public to weigh in,” and was “out of step with the views of the average person in Massachusetts.”

State Rep. Chris Markey of Dartmouth said he was “deeply disappointed.”

“This bill creates a very slippery slope,” Markey stated. “I believe this law puts doctors in a very difficult ethical dilemma, as well as conflicts with long-standing criminal case law. This law, I believe, is not consistent with the beliefs of the vast majority of my constituents. While many are pro-choice, you can still be pro-choice and see this law as going beyond the norms of acceptability.”

State Rep. Alan Silvia, a Democrat from Bristol, opposed the expansion.

“My position has been consistent: I believe in protecting human life, including the life of the unborn,” Silvia said. “We go to extraordinary lengths as a society to protect vulnerable life, saving whales and saving strays, yet when it comes to an unborn child, that same sense of protection too often seems to disappear. As a legislator, I cannot support policies that continue to expand abortion, particularly in the later stages of pregnancy.”

State Rep. Dennis Gallagher, another Democrat who voted no, said existing law already allowed later abortions to protect the mother’s health or address severe fetal anomalies.

“At that point in a pregnancy, if the health of the mother is fine and the baby’s health is fine, I just think alternatives should be encouraged for that baby,” he said.

Pro-life groups and Catholic leaders condemned the law as extreme.

Bishop Robert Barron described it as permitting a “fully-formed child, moments before exiting the birth canal,” to be “eviscerated, chopped into pieces, have its head crushed or skin burned off—all under the full protection of Massachusetts law.”

He called the provision “barbaric.”

Massachusetts Catholic bishops had previously called the removal of late-term limits a “radical measure which is gravely immoral.”

Some Catholics have urged that Healey, who identifies as Catholic, be denied Holy Communion.