Massachusetts could soon have some of the most expansive abortion laws in the country after House lawmakers voted 119-33 to scrap all gestational limits.
Right now in Massachusetts, anyone who is 24 weeks pregnant or later is legally restricted from having an abortion unless the parent’s health or life is at risk, or if there is a “grave” or “lethal” diagnosis for the fetus. The House bill would remove those limits and place the decision in the hands of a physician.
Now lawmakers will see whether state senators move the bill forward before the end of the legislative session on July 31.
Late-in-pregnancy abortions are rare, but advocates and providers say the current law places an undue burden on the few people who are looking to terminate a pregnancy in its third trimester. Those pregnancies, they testified at the State House last year, are often wanted but complicated by severe health issues. Dozens of people have left Massachusetts in recent years to receive abortions in other states because that option wasn’t available to them here. Advocates of the change say that’s a taxing and expensive option.
“We’ve decided to get away from all the exceptions and trust our medical professionals — who are the best in the world — to make those decisions with the informed consent of the patient,” said state Rep. Michael Day, a Democrat from Stoneham.
Abortion laws have relaxed significantly in Massachusetts in the last four years as lawmakers sought to make Massachusetts a beacon for reproductive rights after Roe v. Wade was overturned. Legal exceptions for third trimester abortions were made law six years ago, and refined in 2022.
In the debate on the floor before Wednesday’s vote, only state Rep. Michael J. Soter spoke in opposition to the bill. The Bellingham Republican said that when these restrictions were amended four years ago, it was meant to help protect women. In his opinion, removing restrictions doesn’t do that.
“I’m not here in opposition because it’s an abortion bill, or anything like that,” Soter said. The 2022 bill, he said, “had protections to truly, truly make sure that we took care of all health care risks.”
But state Rep. Christine Barber, a Democrat from Somerville who co-sponsored the original legislation with state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa of Northampton, said that “we are hearing from hospitals, we are hearing from clinicians where patients aren’t getting the needed care.”
“We are just trying to remedy that so that patients get the needed care,” said Barber.
There were 99 abortions performed at or beyond 24 weeks in 2024, the most recent year where data’s available. That’s a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands of abortions provided by Massachusetts clinicians each year.
Health care providers say the current standard creates a legal gray area.
“It’s a huge burden on the physicians and the patients. Rarely do we have the time and effort to get the ethics committee, have multiple people sign off on it,” said Dr. Anna Whelan, who works on legislative issues for the Massachusetts chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. “Everyone’s version of what is ‘life-threatening’ or ‘grave’ fetal issue or maternal issue varies.”
Health care providers and people who work at local abortion funds say it’s rare to see people leave the state for abortion care. But when they do leave, it’s expensive: lining up travel and potentially child care, taking time off of work, and finding appointments with one of the few providers that offer such care in Washington D.C., Colorado or New Mexico.
“Instead of having statutory exceptions that will really never be able to capture all of the nuances of every pregnancy that’s extremely unique in its own way, we want for these decisions to be made between patients and their doctors,” said Claire Teylouni, the interim executive director of Reproductive Equity Now.
One abortion fund, the Abortion Rights Fund of Western Massachusetts, received about two requests per month from Massachusetts residents beyond that gestational limit from early 2022 through mid-2025. So far this year, another abortion fund — Eastern Massachusetts Abortion Fund, or the EMA Fund — has seen about one request a month. A doctor at Boston Medical Center also said her department sees about one patient per month that has to be turned away.
Changing the law opens up the door for people getting abortions for any reason at any point in pregnancy. While it’s overwhelmingly people who suffer medical complications late in pregnancy who are seeking these abortions out, Whelan said some may simply not realize they’re pregnant until they’re far along.
“It’s not my job to decide which valid reasons are valid,” she told GBH News.
The policy change could also invite people from other states to get abortions later in their pregnancies. With so few providers offering the option, people in dire medical situations could travel in from across the country.
Teylouni said she expects more people to travel to Massachusetts if the bill becomes law.
“We do anticipate that. And I think that that’s a really important role that Massachusetts can play in this national landscape,” she said. “Massachusetts has a real opportunity to make sure that we are helping not only alleviate that burden for clinics across the country, but also making sure that patients here in Massachusetts don’t have to leave.”
