Pastors urge Baker to veto budget bill’s abortion amendment

While the right to an abortion in Massachusetts would be protected and strengthened by state law under a proposal that’s soon to land on Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk for consideration, hundreds of pastors from across the state are calling on him to veto the measure.

More than 400 pastors signed a Wednesday letter to the Republican governor, according to the Boston Herald, putting pressure on him to strike down an amendment to the state budget dubbed the “ROE Act,” which pastors say represents a “shocking and callous disregard for human life and the importance of parental involvement in the lives of children.”

Legislative leaders approved the measure to expand abortion access in Massachusetts during a mid-November debate over the state’s $46 billion budget.

The amendment would allow abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy in cases of a fatal fetal anomaly, and lower the age at which someone can obtain an abortion without permission from a judge or parent from 18 to 16-years-old. 

The Senate approved the amendment on a 33-7 vote at the time, and the House approved a similar amendment during their own budget debate. 

📣 The Senate just voted to not only pass Amendment 180, but reject anti-abortion measures to weaken and limit it.

This victory is the results of years of hard work for activists, volunteers, and dedicated allies in the state legislature who have fought for the #ROEAct. pic.twitter.com/8APsT9Vz5A

— Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of MA (@PPAdvocacyMA) November 18, 2020

In an open letter to Baker published Monday on the conservative news site Townhall, Michael New, a visiting assistant professor at the Catholic University of America, encouraged Baker to strike down what he called “terrible public policy.”

“Massachusetts has been a leader in terms of protecting minors and their unborn children,” New wrote in his letter, adding that the state’s parental involvement law took effect in 1981. “Currently, approximately 37 states have pro-life parental involvement laws in effect. There are at least 16 peer-reviewed studies which find that these protective laws reduce the incidence of abortion among minors.” 

As criticism rises around the amendment, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts released data from a new statewide survey of 1,026 state residents taken between Nov. 16-18 that found overwhelming support for each key aspect of the ROE Act that’s adopted in the budget. 

“What this poll shows is what we know. The people of Massachusetts agree that abortion access is a fundamental right. People across all political spectrums have made it clear that Massachusetts officials should fight for reproductive freedom,” Rebecca Hart Holder, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, said in a statement. “Massachusetts voters made it clear they support reproductive freedom when they expanded the legislature’s pro-choice majority in November and they have made it clear with thousands of calls and emails in support of removing medically unnecessary barriers to care.”

According to the poll results, three in four Mass. voters support an exception to the 24-week ban in cases of a lethal fetal diagnosis, and the same metric goes for voters who think the state legislature should proactively protect the right to abortion through legislation.

In the Telegram & Gazette, a Fitchburg family medicine doctor published another open letter to Baker in late November, urging him to veto the measure and petition lawmakers to sustain the veto.

“We should pray to be more civilized in Massachusetts where some want to enshrine into law the disposal of inconvenient life and laud it as a reproductive right,” he wrote. “It is sad to see today’s feminists stray from the original pro-life feminists who fought for voting and other legitimate rights for women. These brave women would never allow the destruction of their children enshrined in the womb.”

Though Gov. Baker hasn’t commented on whether he plans to veto or send the budget bill back to Legislature with the amendments, the Herald reported, a decision is due by Monday.

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