Massachusetts Governor Vetoes Bill Legalizing Abortions Up to Birth
News Staff : Dec 28, 2020
Massachusetts Citizens for Life
"Even our pro-choice governor can see the harm in this bill, and thank God for this Christmas Eve gift protecting life." — Fernando Limbo, member, Massachusetts Citizens for Life
(Boston, MA) — [Massachusetts Citizens for Life] Massachusetts Citizens for Life (MCFL) applauds Governor Baker's action on December 24, 2020, Christmas Eve, vetoing the heinously anti-life bill H.5179, also and previously known as An Act Removing Obstacles and Expanding Access to Abortion in MA. (Photo Credit: Pixabay)
"Kill the bill, not the baby!" said Fernando Limbo, a member based in Revere, "Even our pro-choice governor can see the harm in this bill, and thank God for this Christmas Eve gift protecting life."
H.5179, nearly the same as "R.O.E."'s earlier draft, still:
- Allows underage girls to get abortions without their parents' consent or even knowledge. (340 girls under the age of 18 had abortions in Massachusetts in 2019. Under this legislation their parents would no longer have the right to even know.)
- Allows doctors to deny life-saving medical care to a clearly viable baby born alive during an abortion. This is known as "passive infanticide."
- Extends legal abortion all the way to 40 weeks for effectively any reason "to preserve the patient's physical or mental health." (emphasis added)
Speaker of the House, Robert DeLeo, responded -- utilizing his Christmas Eve to promise that the House would "override the veto."
"It is appalling that, on the eve of the birth of Christ, Speaker DeLeo would promise to ram through legislation that expands the killing of babies," said Patricia Stewart, Esq., Executive Director of MCFL.
The original bill, H.3320/S.1209, languished in committee, unable to fight commonsense opposition by citizens on both sides of the party line. Representative Claire Cronin drafted an amendment to the annual state budget to underhandedly sneak the deadly bill into law before the new year.
Following her action, both House and Senate approved the bill; but Baker rejected it.
"We expect our lawmakers to listen both to their hearts -- and their constituents," said C. J. Williams, MCFL Director of Community Engagement, "This bill is about abortion, at any cost. It is about so-called access -- even to the detriment of women's health. It is not pro-choice, it is not pro-life. Kill this bill, not our babies -- and not our women!"
Members and other citizens will be contacting their state representatives all this week with just that message. Kill the bill, not the baby. H.5179 was vetoed for good reason; and MCFL expects our lawmakers in Massachusetts to respect the lives of its citizens and the voices of their constituents.
"Tell them Massachusetts MUST do better than the "R.O.E." Act," said MCFL President, Myrna Maloney Flynn, "For all of our citizens: Our women, our infants, and our daughters."'
Massachusetts Citizens for Life