Heather Clark – November 19, 2020
BOSTON — Lawmakers in Massachusetts have passed an amendment attached to a budget bill, essentially allowing abortion up to birth for “fatal fetal anomalies” and lowering the age of parental consent from under 18 to under 16. It is not clear whether or not Republican Gov. Charlie Baker plans to sign the measure into law.
Judiciary Committee Chair Rep. Claire Cronin, D-Easton, had presented Amendment 759 as an attachment to House Bill 5150, the budget for fiscal year 2021.
According to text on the legislature website, the amendment allows abortion after 24 weeks when “in the best medical judgment of the physician, an abortion is warranted because of a lethal fetal anomaly that is incompatible with sustained life outside the uterus.”
It permits nurse practitioners, physicians assistants and midwives to perform abortions and states that abortive mothers under 16 must obtain consent from one parent (or can go to the courts if that is not possible), and “in deciding whether to grant such consent, a patient’s parent shall consider only the patient’s best interests.”
The amendment passed in the House of Representatives last Thursday by a vote of 108-49, followed by a 33-7 vote in the Senate on Wednesday.
All four Republicans in the Senate voted against the amendment: Bruce Tarr of Glouchester, Ryan Fattman of Sutton, Patrick O’Connor of Weymouth and Dean Tran of Fitchburg. Three Democrats did as well: Michael Rush of Boston, Walter Timilty of Miltona and John Velis of Westfield.
Democratic leaders in both the House and Senate characterize the amendment as being necessary in light of a potential overturn of Roe v. Wade.