A new bill proposed in the Massachusetts state legislature would allow doctors to sign off on abortions after 24 weeks of gestation if it is determined that “the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or physical or mental health.”
The current legal framework in the state allows abortion for any reason prior to fetal viability, which is dated at between 22 and 24 weeks gestation. The bill, named the “Roe Act,” adopts an extremely wide definition of mental health, saying that it relates to “all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the person’s age — relevant to the well-being of the patient.”
The implications of this definition mean that late-term abortions may become significantly easier to obtain.
“This lenient definition essentially allows for abortion on demand up until the moment of birth,” noted National Review staff writer Alexandra DeSanctis.
In addition, the Roe Act would also allow abortions to take place after the viability threshold if the doctor deems the fetus “incompatible with sustained life outside the uterus.”
“Though the right to abortion is already protected by the Massachusetts state constitution, this legislation would enshrine that right in law as well,” DeSanctis noted of the new proposal.
According to LifeNews, in addition, the new law “eliminates the parental-consent requirement for a minor girl…
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