Should it be legal to abort a viable baby with Down Syndrome in the third-trimester of a pregnancy in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts?
That could soon be the case, under a proposed Massachusetts law.
The Massachusetts House Committee on Ways and Means introduced an abortion expansion bill Tuesday, June 28 in response to a U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade last week.
The Supreme Court decision has no effect on abortions in Massachusetts, where the state’s highest court and state statute declare abortion a right.
Yet Bay State lawmakers are moving to expand late-term abortions in Massachusetts.
The bill is called “An Act Expanding Protections For Reproductive Rights (H.4930). The bill passed 136-17 on Wednesday evening; 11 Republicans and six Democrats voted against the bill.
One sponsors want to make: allowing for abortion after 24 weeks in cases of “severe” fetal anomaly; the law currently in effect (since December 2020) allows for abortions after 24 weeks in cases of “lethal fetal anomaly.”
“Severe” is not defined in the statute, but it could include Down Syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes mental disability and limits life expectancy to about 60.
The bill gives the Massachusetts Department of Public Health jurisdiction to determine what “severe” means — Section 11 of the bill says: “The department of public health shall promulgate regulations to implement this section.”
Abortion opponents have challenged the appropriateness of a “severe fetal anomaly” exception in state law.
Late-term abortionist George Tiller, who operated Women’s Health Care in Wichita, Kansas, performed third-trimester abortions in that state under such an exception in cases of Down Syndrome, cleft palates, Down Syndrome, and women carrying “healthy twins,” former Kansas attorney general Phill Kline told LifeSiteNews in 2012. Kline served in the position from 2003 to 2007 — while Tiller was still operating.
The New York Timesalso confirmed in 2009 that Tiller aborted babies with “serious but survivable abnormalities, like Down syndrome.” The reporter who wrote the story, David Barstow, won four Pulitzer Prizes in his journalism career.
(Tiller was shot to death in May 2009 by an abortion opponent at a Lutheran church in Wichita.)
As the Midwestern health care provider Mercy points out, “Fetal anomalies refer to unusual or unexpected conditions in a baby’s development during pregnancy. Fetal anomalies may also be known as congenital anomalies or birth defects.”
The World Health Organization considers Down Syndrome a “severe birth defect.”
The proposed abortion-expansion bill in Massachusetts bill would amend Section 12N of Chapter 112 of Massachusetts General Laws to include “severe” in addition to “lethal fetal anomaly.” Here is the text in this bill:
SECTION 10. Section 12N of said chapter 112, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the word “a”, in line 7, the following words:- severe or
For context, here is Section 12N of Chapter 112 of Massachusetts General Laws:
Section 12N. If a pregnancy has existed for 24 weeks or more, no abortion may be performed except by a physician and only if it is necessary, in the best medical judgment of the physician, to preserve the life of the patient, if it is necessary, in the best medical judgment of the physician, to preserve the patient’s physical or mental health or, in the best medical judgment of the physician, an abortion is warranted because of a lethal fetal anomaly or the fetus is incompatible with sustained life outside the uterus.
Here is how supporters of the bill want the updated section of the state statute to read:
Section 12N. If a pregnancy has existed for 24 weeks or more, no abortion may be performed except by a physician and only if it is necessary, in the best medical judgment of the physician, to preserve the life of the patient, if it is necessary, in the best medical judgment of the physician, to preserve the patient’s physical or mental health or, in the best medical judgment of the physician, an abortion is warranted because of a severe or lethal fetal anomaly or the fetus is incompatible with sustained life outside the uterus.
Down syndrome is a condition in which a person has an extra chromosome. Chromosomes are small “packages” of genes in the body. They determine how a baby’s body forms and functions as it grows during pregnancy and after birth. Typically, a baby is born with 46 chromosomes. Babies with Down syndrome have an extra copy of one of these chromosomes, chromosome 21. A medical term for having an extra copy of a chromosome is ‘trisomy.’ Down syndrome is also referred to as Trisomy 21. This extra copy changes how the baby’s body and brain develop, which can cause both mental and physical challenges for the baby.
There were a handful of amendments to the bill that the liberal legislature rejected.
Massachusetts state Representative Joseph McKenna (R-Webster) told NewBostonPost before the vote was taken that he was concerned about the “severe” fetal anomalies porion of the abortion-expansion bill, among other pieces of it.
“The broad and undefined term ‘severe’ is problematic in its lack of definition and parameters,” McKenna said by email. “As such, I have sponsored an amendment by representative Colleen Garry that would replace the term ‘severe’ with ‘fatal.’
“Additionally, I have filed my own amendments that would allow taxpayers to opt out from having their tax dollars used to fund abortions, as well as an amendment that would prohibit state funding of Planned Parenthood.”
Here is the text of Amendment 1 that McKenna filed titled, “Relative To Taxpayer Conscience Protection”:
Taxpayers shall have the option to indicate on their income tax return that they do not want any portion of their income tax liability to be utilized for abortion services. When a taxpayer makes such election, the taxpayer’s income tax liability may not be used to pay for abortion services.
(c) The portion of the taxpayer’s income tax liability that is not to be used to pay for abortion services, pursuant to this section, must be deposited into a special account, separate and apart from the General Fund, whose purpose shall be to develop and implement a public information program to inform the general public of the provisions of section 39-½ of Chapter 119, concerning voluntary abandonment of a newborn infant, also known as the Baby Safe Haven Law.
He also filed Amendment 2 to the bill titled “Relative To Funding Certain Nonprofits.” Here is what is says:
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no state funds may be made available to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, or to any of its affiliates.
McKenna is also a co-sponsor of Amendment 8 to the bill which would eliminate “Section 10 and Section 11” of this bill. State Representatitve Colleen Garry (D-Dracut) filed that amendment. Section 10 is the section that adds “severe” in addition to “lethal” fetal anomalies; and Section 11 says “The department of public health shall promulgate regulations to implement this section.”
McKenna is a member of the House Committee on Ways and Means. The other 33 members of the House Committee on Ways and Means could be reached for comment on Wednesday.
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