Blue State Governor Celebrates Eliminating All Abortion Restrictions

Liberty Check

• Massachusetts becomes 10th state to remove all gestational limits on abortion, allowing the procedure through all nine months
• Democratic Governor framed bill signing as resistance to Trump, claiming those who oppose legislation ‘do not support women’s health’
• Previous 24-week limit replaced with vague ‘health care worker discretion’ standard, removing legal penalties for late-term procedures

Democratic Gov. Maura Healey signed controversial legislation eliminating Massachusetts’ gestational limits on abortion, making the deep-blue state the 10th to permit the procedure up to birth. The governor was met with applause and smiles as she enacted the sweeping change.

Under the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, health care workers will have greater discretion in determining whether to perform an abortion later in pregnancy, without facing legal penalties under the state’s previous restrictions. The law replaces concrete protections with subjective medical judgments.

Healey claimed the law is intended to ensure families facing medical complications late in pregnancy can abort their babies in Massachusetts rather than having to travel out of state. Those complications can include maternal health complications and fatal diagnoses.

During the bill signing, Healey pledged to keep abortion safe, legal and accessible in Massachusetts for as long as she remains governor.

“We believe that health care decisions should be made between women and families and their doctors, not politicians,” Healey said. “Abortion will remain safe. It will remain legal, and it will remain accessible here in Massachusetts. That’s my commitment to you.”

The bill is scheduled to take effect in 90 days. Previously, state law generally prohibited abortions after 24 weeks, with limited exceptions—a standard now completely erased.

Massachusetts now joins Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon and Vermont in removing gestational age limits on abortion, along with the District of Columbia. The list reveals a clear geographic and political pattern among states abandoning protections for life in the later stages of pregnancy.

Healey went further, claiming Monday’s signing was intended to “stand with women” while arguing that those who oppose the legislation do not support women’s health. The inflammatory rhetoric dismissed legitimate concerns about late-term abortion as anti-woman.

“The bottom line for people in Massachusetts, if you care about women’s health, if you care about making sure that women are able to access the health care that they need in consultation with their doctors, should be clear,” she said. “I stand with women. My opponents do not.”

Healey also framed the legislation as a “shield” against national efforts under President Donald Trump and Republicans to roll back abortion protections following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. The governor positioned her state as a resistance stronghold against constitutional conservatives.

“It is up to the states to lead,” Healey said. “And as governor, I promise that no matter what Donald Trump or Republicans in Congress or the Supreme Court does, we’re going to continue to make sure that women and families have access to the health care that they need, right here in Massachusetts.”

Critics of the legislation argue that removing all gestational limits goes far beyond what most Americans support and eliminates critical protections for viable unborn children. The vague “health” standard could encompass virtually any reason for late-term abortion.

The legislation represents one of the most permissive abortion regimes in the Western world. Massachusetts joins a small number of states and nations worldwide that allow abortion through the final months of pregnancy without restriction.

Our freedoms depend on staying vigilant.