Members of the conference committee who crafted a compromised criminal justice reform bill appear at a press conference to announce it Friday, March 23. They are, from left to right, state Senator Will Brownsberger and state Representatives Claire Cronin and Ron Mariano. State House News Service Photo by Sam Doran.
Could Massachusetts state Representative Claire Cronin (D-Easton) be the next U.S. ambassador to Ireland?
Cronin, the prime mover in the state Legislature of the ROE Act abortion expansion bill last year, is not saying, although some fellow state legislators are congratulating her on a report that says she’s being vetted by the White House and seriously considered for the post, which has long been viewed as a plum by Irish-American pols.
Cronin, now the Massachusetts House majority leader, was the top surrogate in Massachusetts for Joe Biden during the 2020 presidential campaign, including when Biden was far behind in the pack in polling and in delegates. According to a report from the New York-based Irish Central, her reward may end up being Dublin.
Cronin’s support came as many Massachusetts politicians threw their support behind U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Cambridge), who failed to win a single state in the presidential primary.
While Cronin hasn’t weighed in on the report, others have, including progressive Democratic state representatives Michelle DuBois (D-Brockton), Liz Miranda (D-Roxbury), and Tram Nguyen (D-Andover).
DuBois wrote on Twitter, “So proud of state Rep Claire Cronin (Dem, Brockton, Easton)!!! She’s tough smart caring, super eloquent and wicked smart. Majority Leader Cronin will be an amazing ambassador to Ireland. Congratulations Claire,” according to State House News Service.
Miranda reportedly tweeted, “Congratulations to Leader Claire Cronin for this incredible achievement. Thank you for being a partner to me in the House on so many issues. We are proud of you!”
And Nguyen wrote, “Congratulations to Leader Cronin! So well-deserved! She’s smart, compassionate, and always willing to lend a helping hand.”
In the past year, Cronin is perhaps best known in Massachusetts for being the primary sponsor of the abortion expansionist ROE Act.
The bill legalized abortion after 24 weeks in cases where “an abortion is warranted because of a lethal fetal anomaly incompatible with sustained life outside the uterus.” State law previously allowed for abortion after 24 weeks “to preserve the patient’s physical or mental health.”
The bill, which Democratic state legislators enacted in December 2020 over the veto of Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican, also lowered the age of those who need parental or judicial consent to obtain an abortion from 17 and younger to 15 and younger. And it eliminated language from then-existing Massachusetts law that required doctors to try to save the life of a baby born alive after an attempted abortion.
Section 12P. If an abortion is performed pursuant to section twelve M, the physician performing the abortion shall take all reasonable steps, both during and subsequent to the abortion, in keeping with good medical practice, consistent with the procedure being used, to preserve the life and health of the aborted child. Such steps shall include the presence of life-supporting equipment, as defined by the department of public health, in the room where the abortion is to be performed.
The Republic of Ireland, once one of the most socially conservative countries in the world, legalized elective abortion in 2018 via a national referendum.
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Members of the conference committee who crafted a compromised criminal justice reform bill appear at a press conference to announce it Friday, March 23. They are, from left to right, state Senator Will Brownsberger and state Representatives Claire Cronin and Ron Mariano. State House News Service Photo by Sam Doran. 
