The Democrat-controlled Massachusetts Senate voted on Friday, the final day of the formal legislative session, to pass H.5595, known as “An Act Prioritizing Patient Access to Care,” to eliminate the state’s 24-week limit on abortions and allow them up until the moment of birth.
The bill had already been approved by the House of Representatives last week by a vote of 119-33 and, after Senate approval, was enacted by the House in a subsequent 121-35 vote before being formally sent to the desk of Democrat Governor Maura Healey for her signature.
If signed into law, Massachusetts would join Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, D.C., and others that impose no time limits on abortion.
Under current Massachusetts law, abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy are permitted only in narrowly defined circumstances, to protect the life of the mother, to preserve her physical or mental health, in cases of a lethal fetal anomaly, or when there is a grave fetal diagnosis.
The new legislation scraps those four statutory categories entirely.
Instead, it states that an abortion may be performed by a physician “based upon the professional judgment of the physician.”
Senate President Karen E. Spilka described the measure as ensuring that “if you need reproductive care in Massachusetts, you can get it close to your home, in the state with the best medical care in the world, with a health care provider you trust.”
Senator Robyn Kennedy, a primary sponsor, said it will give women “full autonomy over the care they need, when and where they need it.”
Similar statements came from Senators Joan Lovely and Cindy Friedman.
Opponents argued that the legislation opens the door to abortions of healthy, viable unborn children up to the moment of birth.
Massachusetts Citizens for Life president Myrna Maloney Flynn warned that while the bill prioritizes access, “it does not prioritize a woman’s safety,” and pointed out that late-term abortions occur at a stage when unborn children may be capable of feeling pain and surviving outside the womb.
Help Stop Late-Term Abortion in Massachusetts: Contact Your Senator Now https://t.co/9AUAcVtbbI.
The fight is not over.
The Senate Committee on Ways and Means is now considering S.1563, which may be reported under a new bill number before a Senate vote. Regardless of its… pic.twitter.com/iUVynucG2R
— Massachusetts Citizens for Life (@MassProLife) July 28, 2026
Republican lawmakers echoed those objections.
State Rep. Alyson Sullivan-Almeida called the House passage “a very sad day in the commonwealth of Massachusetts,” stating that “the precedent that we’re setting is that a mother can get an abortion up until the moment of birth for a healthy, viable baby.”
State Rep. Joseph McKenna described it as “a significant change to the law to expand what is already an extremely progressive abortion policy.”
The Catholic Bishops of Massachusetts issued a formal statement opposing the measure as a “radical” and “gravely immoral” step that removes all remaining legal limits on late-term abortions, affirming the sacred dignity of human life from conception to natural death and urging the Senate to reject it while calling for prayer and a renewal of reverence for all human life.
Governor Healey, a consistent advocate for expansive abortion access who previously stockpiled abortion pills and signed shield laws protecting providers, has endorsed the legislation according to reports.
As of early Saturday, Healey has not yet signed it or issued a formal statement on the final version of the legislation now on her desk.
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