If you’ve ever donated money to Maura Healey’s political campaign, you may have helped fund an abortion.
That’s because Healey is one of several liberal Democratic Massachusetts politicians who used some her campaign funds to donate to an abortion fund.
An abortion fund is an organization that helps pay for women’s abortions if they’re uninsured or their health insurance plan doesn’t cover abortion. (Medicaid covers abortion in Massachusetts.)
Research by NewBostonPost found that Healey donated $150 of campaign money to The Jane Fund of Central Massachusetts on January 16, 2020, according to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
The Jane Fund’s Facebook page says that it “provides financial help to anyone who cannot afford abortion care.” The organization’s web site says that it funds abortion for women from Central Massachusetts as well as women traveling to Central Massachusetts to have abortions.
Healey isn’t the only Democratic politician in Massachusetts who has made this kind of a donation, either, according to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance.
So have a pair of state senators: Harriette Chandler (D-Worcester) and Michael O. Moore (D-Milbury).
Chandler has donated $1,025 of her campaign funds to The Jane Fund in 11 transactions dating back to 2011. Her most recent was a $100 donation on February 9, 2021.
Moore has made four donations to the organization since 2013 totaling $220; his most recent donation came on January 13, 2020, for $30.
Moore defended his donations in a statement provided by his communications director to NewBostonPost by email on Tuesday afternoon.
“Women in Central Massachusetts and throughout the Commonwealth deserve access to healthcare regardless of their race, class, or financial situation,” Moore said in the written statement. “The Jane Fund is critical to making sure poverty is not a barrier to women getting the essential care they need, especially for victims of rape and incest, helping prevent dangerous or potentially fatal healthcare choices. Without donations, this vital support is not possible.
“Women’s healthcare – whether that be preventative care, pregnancy services, abortion services, or others – is a fundamental right that I always have and will continue to strongly support.”
Additionally, three state representatives — James O’Day (D-West Boylston), Mary Keefe (D-Worcester), and Daniel Donahue (D-Worcester) — and Worcester city councilor Candy Mero-Carlson (the Democratic state committeewoman for the First Worcester District) have also given campaign funds to The Jane Fund.
O’Day has made eight donations to the Jane Fund since 2008 totaling $550; his most recent donation was for $75 in 2019. Keefe made three donations totaling $230 between 2014 and 2020; she most recently made a $75 donation on January 16, 2020. Donahue made a $75 donation on January 27, 2018; and Mero-Carlson made a $100 donation on January 28, 2020.
A few other Democratic politicians have given campaign funds to a different abortion fund: the Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts. The organization’s Facebook page says that “ARFWM provides direct financial assistance to people seeking abortions who cannot afford them.”
The Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts says that it helps pay for more than 300 abortions per year, according to the National Network of Abortion Funds. The Jane Fund does not publicly say how many abortions it helps fund per year. Neither organization could be reached for comment on Monday or Tuesday this week.
The politicians that have donated campaign funds to the Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts include state Senator Joanne Comerford (D-Northampton), state representative Natalie Blais (D-Sunderland), and Easthampton mayor Nicole LaChapelle.
Comerford donated $100 to the organization on November 3, 2020; Blais gave $107.20 on February 24, 2022; and LaChapelle gave $107 on February 25, 2022.
A spokesman for the fund told NewBostonPost that fund officials are grateful for anyone who donates.
“The Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts does not comment on individual donations,” the spokesman said by email. “However The Fund is proud of all of our donors, who help to equalize access to abortion healthcare and bring us all closer to the goals of reproductive justice.”
Massachusetts Citizens for Life executive director Patricia Stewart condemned the politicians’ donations and said that she thinks many voters will remember it come election day.
“How perverse it is for those, seeking to work for all citizens of Massachusetts, to believe they can earn votes by financing the killing of the unborn,” Stewart told NewBostonPost in an email message. “On election day, voters who believe in the sanctity of all human life, will surely disagree.”
Healey’s campaign and the offices for Chandler, O’Day, Keefe, Donahue, Mero-Carlson, Comerford, Blais, and LaChapelle could not be reached for comment on Monday or Tuesday this week.
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