Abortion rights fight heating up in Massachusetts, other states

Feb. 26-- Feb. 26--Massachusetts is among several states that have filed or passed legislation in anticipation of the 1973 Roe v. Wade abortion law being hollowed out or overturned by the conservative-laden Supreme Court.

President Donald Trump has promised to appoint justices to the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe v. Wade. With the confirmation of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh in October, New York, Virginia, Washington and other states are taking measures to affirm women's rights to abortions.

On Jan. 22 -- the anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling -- New York's Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the Reproductive Health Act. The controversial law decriminalizes abortion and among other things permits abortions after 24 weeks, if a doctor determines the health and life of the woman is in danger, or the fetus is not viable. The law also expands abortion care providers from only physicians, to include nurse practitioners and physician's assistants.

State Sen. Harriette L. Chandler, D-Worcester, recently filed legislation titled An Act to Remove Obstacles and Expand Abortion Access. The bill, like New York's new law, would allow abortions after 24 weeks in cases of lethal fatal anomalies, or a risk to the woman's health or life. It would also, among other things, eliminate mandatory parental or court consent for women under the age of 18 to get an abortion.

Republican Gov. Charles D. Baker Jr., who is pro-choice, last year repealed two longstanding abortion restrictions: the state's pre-Roe ban on abortion and contraceptives, and a law requiring abortions after 13 weeks to be performed in a hospital. The antiquated laws were ruled unconstitutional, but were still on the books. Removing them, proponents say, will prevent court challenges against abortion providers.

Ms. Chandler said the overturn of Roe v. Wade is something she and other advocates have feared since Judge Kavanaugh was named to the Supreme Court. President Donald Trump has also called on Congress to pass legislation that would ban late-term abortion, something that Ms. Chandler's bill would allow only under the strict circumstances where there exist lethal abnormalities in the pregnancy, or a risk to the woman's health or life.

"This legislation, in addition to its other major policy changes, formally codifies the precedent set by Roe v. Wade into statute so that even under the circumstances where Roe is repealed, Massachusetts would still have the original protections enshrined in law," said the longtime legislator and Senate president emerita, who is vice chair of the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing.

A November 2018 poll commissioned by pro-choice NARAL MA and conducted by the MassINC polling group found that 78 percent of voters, including Catholics, support a state law guaranteeing the legal right to abortion, and 76 percent support adding an exception to the ban on abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy to protect a woman's health or in cases where there is a grave fetal anomaly.

Currently, in order for women under age 18 to get an abortion, parental or court consent is required. Ms. Chandler said the proposed change is to help teenagers who may not have a good relationship with their parents. Being required to petition a court causes the young woman to go through hurdles, including traveling out of state, which delays the abortion, she said. In almost every judicial review case, the young woman has been allowed to have the abortion.

Of the 25,000 judicial bypass cases heard since April 1981, there have been 17 denials, 15 of which were overturned in the state Appeals Court, according to Planned Parenthood. The only two denials to be upheld in Appeals Court were in 1982 and 1986.

An abortion, Ms. Chandler said, should be between the patient and the doctor to determine, not the courts or legislators. She said women do not seek to have an abortion -- a traumatic experience -- after 24 weeks as a means of contraception.

"People don't go to have an abortion late in pregnancy. You only do under very rare, very tragic circumstances that might show up late in a pregnancy," Ms. Chandler said.

A full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks. More than 90 percent of abortions occur within the first 13 weeks. Only 1.4 percent occur at or after 21 weeks, according a 2015 report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Several anti-abortion advocates, including the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, Massachusetts Citizens for Life, and the Massachusetts Republican Assembly, are mobilizing their base to try to defeat Ms. Chandler's bill.

"It's a radical piece of legislation that will allow abortions during all nine months of pregnancy, remove all parental involvement in a minor girl's pregnancy and allow for the destruction of newborns who survive an abortion," said Linda R. Thayer, a retired science teacher who is vice president for education for Massachusetts Citizens For Life. "Women and children deserve better than this."

Mary Lou Daxland, president of the Massachusetts Republican Assembly, called the bill "immoral and unjustifiable" and a way to "legalize infanticide." She said the Legislature must oppose the bill and Mr. Baker must veto it. But she expressed some doubt that would happen. In addition to the governor being pro-choice, 38 of the 200 members of the Legislature are Republican.

"This is happening in one state after another like a domino effect. Because we don't have close to a majority in the Statehouse, this thing is going to be rammed through," she predicted.

James F. Driscoll, executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, which assists the bishops of the state's four Roman Catholic dioceses in public policy matters, said the bill is an extreme tilt in the wrong direction that's very concerning. The MCC, he said, will take a two-prong approach to fighting it. Once the bill is given a number and is assigned to a committee, the initial focus will be on educating committee members. The other prong is to educate the other legislators, he said.

"This is going to be a top priority of the bishops in this legislative session," Mr. Driscoll said. "The Conference is going to work vigorously to oppose this bill and make it clear to the people who don't really have the details down what the provisions of this bill does. I think even people who are pro-choice are going to have real problems with this bill once they understand what's in it."

Ms. Chandler said she does not think the bill is a partisan issue. All 50 co-sponsors of her bill are Democrats. The legislation is co-sponsored in the House by Rep. Patricia Haddad, a Democrat representing the 5th Bristol District.

"It's an issue of what is right and whether a woman's life should be in danger that way or whether the pregnancy should be in danger that way," she said. "We took for granted that Roe v. Wade took care of a lot. We're not so confident of that now. There are bills moving in the Supreme Court right now that threatens that."

Michael E. Smith, chief of staff for House Minority Leader Rep. Bradley H. Jones Jr., R-North Reading, said the legislator has not had a chance to review Ms. Chandler's bill. But, he has been contacted by constituents with a number of concerns with the current bill. The concerns have primarily been centered around the proposed changes to the parental consent law, as well as concerns about language in the bill regarding late-term abortions.

"He expects any bill that might eventually come out of committee will .... look different than the current draft," Mr. Smith said via email.

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