And They Applauded in Massachusetts

Abortion – the deliberate killing of a pre-born baby in the womb – is morally wrong and intrinsically evil.  No law enacted by man can change that reality.

“Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable,” states The Catechism of the Catholic Church (paragraph 2271).  

The Catechism also states, “Every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God,”  (paragraph 2319).  

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in its infamous decision Roe v. Wade 410 U.S. 113 (1973). The Roe decision was subsequently supported by the 1992 U.S. Supreme Court decision Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey, 505 U.S. 833 (1992).  

For 50 years, Roe v. Wade permitted a moral wrong to be a legal right.  

Then in 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and corrected this evil when it issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization 597 U.S. 215 (2022).   

“Abortion presents a profound moral question,” wrote Justice Samuel Alito for the majority in the Dobbs decision. “The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion. Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives.”

Essentially, the Dobbs decision rebuked the idea that the U.S. Constitution includes a right to abortion and enabled the individual states to decide once again whether or not abortion should be legal and if so, to what extent abortions may be performed in their own jurisdictions.  

As a result of the Dobbs decision, the states once again are able to decide what, if any, restrictions shall be placed on abortion.  The states can do this either through legislative action or the direct action of the voters through ballot questions, initiatives and referendums.  Seventeen states including Texas, Louisiana, and West Virginia prohibit abortions except in emergency situations. Five states prohibit abortion after 6 weeks or once a heartbeat is detected.   

Other states are allowing abortions to be performed with no or very few restrictions.  Several states like California, Colorado and Maryland have enshrined the “right to abortion” in their state constitutions.    Some states like California are actually marketing their unfettered access to abortion to women in states with stringent abortion restrictions.  This has become known as “abortion tourism.”

Not one state prohibits abortions in emergency situations.  

Massachusetts is the latest state to adopt a law allowing abortion right up to birth.  Massachusetts is now the 11^th state to adopt such an abominable law.  Previously, Massachusetts law stipulated that abortions performed after 24 weeks had to be medically necessary.  Now there are no restrictions on aborting babies after 24 weeks. 

“Governor Healey and the Massachusetts Legislature have erased the final protections for unborn children who can feel pain and who could survive outside the womb,” said the President of National Right of Life Carol Tobias.

Abortion advocates typically use terms like “reproductive rights” and “access to healthcare” to obfuscate the true reality of what they are advocating, ie. the deliberate killing of a baby in the womb.  Many justify their actions by claiming that late-term abortions are necessary for the life of the mother, even though statistics show that most late-term abortions are not performed out of medical necessity.   

Supporters of the new Massachusetts law, including Governor Maura Healey, Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll, Senate President Karen E. Spilka, and House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano, all used these deliberately deceptive arguments to justify changing Massachusetts law to permit abortions right up to the moment of birth, regardless of medical necessity.

Even the title of the legislative bills seeks to conceal the true nature of the changes to Massachusetts law:  “An Act Prioritizing Patient Access to Care.” 

On Monday 10 August 2026, Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, who claims to be a Catholic, held a ceremony in her office to sign “An Act Prioritizing Patient Access to Care” into law.  Gathered with her in her office were a number of abortion advocates.   Governor Healey signed this infamous law.  And those abortion advocates applauded.  They applauded their state government for enabling women to have their pre-born children killed in the womb right up to the moment of delivery.  

That scene in Governor Healey’s office was demonic.   It was a celebration of legalized evil.

Just because something is legal does not make it morally right.  And this new Massachusetts law is one of the most immoral laws ever enacted.  As former U.S. Ambassador and Presidential candidate Alan Keyes has said on numerous occasions, “you do not have the right to do what is wrong.”

Someday, Governor Healey and all other abortion advocates will stand before God and have to explain their actions.  I pray most earnestly in Our Savior’s name that God will be merciful to them.