Mass. abortion advocates push for broader access

Sep. 29--BOSTON -- Abortion rights groups are prodding state lawmakers to expand access to the procedures in light of President Donald Trump's nomination of a judge known for her conservative, anti-abortion views to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The advocates are urging lawmakers to pass the so-called ROE Act, which would permit late-term abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy in cases where a fetus is not expected to survive. Current state law allows an abortion after 24 weeks only if necessary to preserve the life of the mother.

"If this nomination is confirmed, we will no longer be able to rely on the U.S. Supreme Court to protect us," Dr. Jennifer Childs-Roshak, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, said in a statement.

Anti-abortion groups strongly oppose the changes, saying they would allow more late-term abortions to be performed.

"There's a reason we call it the infanticide act," said Andrew Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Family Institute. "Because it deliberately and explicitly eliminates protections for infants born alive during abortions."

On Saturday, Trump nominated federal Appeals Court Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat made vacant by the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Trump has vowed to push her confirmation through the Republican-controlled Senate before the Nov. 3 presidential election.

While it's not clear that Barrett's confirmation would lead to an immediate challenge of the 1973 Roe V. Wade ruling that legalized abortion, advocates for abortion rights are worried the precedent is at risk.

Rebecca Hart Holder, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, said Barrett's judicial record "shows she is a clear and present threat to reproductive freedom."

"Much like the nominations of Justices (Brett) Kavanaugh and (Neil) Gorsuch, this nomination is yet another attempt by this administration to achieve its ultimate goal of denying us the ability to control our lives, bodies and futures," she said.

The proposal on Beacon Hill also would expand the criteria under which late-term abortions are permitted and eliminate a requirement that minors seeking an abortion get permission from a parent or judge.

Republican lawmakers and conservative groups are resisting the legislation, however. They include Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, archbishop of Boston, who blasted the proposal as "radical" and "destructive" and called on Catholics and the state's elected officials to reject it.

"It is being pressed forward as if it were necessary in a state with some of the most expansive abortion laws in the country," O'Malley said in a statement.

Trump, a Republican whose re-election is supported by anti-abortion groups, has pledged to appoint conservative justices to the Supreme Court who will overturn Roe v. Wade and let states decide whether to legalize abortion.

Opponents of Barrett's confirmation point to her work on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, where she dissented in a 2016 case in which her fellow judges blocked a law making it illegal in Indiana to get an abortion because of fetal disability.

It's unclear if the ROE Act has enough votes to pass the state's Democratic-controlled Legislature, and if so, whether it would pass with a veto-proof majority. The bill is currently before the Legislature's Judiciary Committee, which has until Nov. 12 to vote on advancing it.

Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican who supports abortion rights, has taken steps to defend the state's current reproductive laws but says he opposes late-term abortions.

Meanwhile, the state's Republican Party is focusing on Democrats' support for the ROE Act in blistering political ads targeting lawmakers with GOP challengers in November.

"The radical Democrats support killing babies born alive during an abortion," MassGOP posted in a Facebook ad focused on Rep. Tram Nguyen, D-Andover.

Nguyen called the MassGOP ads "outright lies and disinformation" and said the ROE Act seeks to give women more options at a time when the federal government is eliminating them.

"There are real concerns about the state of reproductive rights in this country," she said. "And there's no place in the public discourse for this kind of rhetoric."

Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group's newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhi.com

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