OB-GYN on Massachusetts abortion expansion: Late-term abortions put mothers at significant risk
The law, which takes effect Nov. 8, has drawn criticism from pro-life advocates and even some Democratic lawmakers in the state.
A pro-life OB-GYN is challenging Massachusetts’ removal of its 24-week abortion limit, warning that the expansion of abortion later in pregnancy could place mothers at greater medical risk.
Dr. Christina Francis, a board-certified OB-GYN and CEO of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, told FOX News Digital that doctors can respond to complications after 24 weeks by delivering the child instead of performing an abortion, according to an Aug. 14 report from the outlet.
“If a woman’s life is in danger, if she’s facing a pregnancy complication beyond 24 weeks, we simply deliver her,” Francis said. “And in fact, delivery is much more expedient than a later-in-pregnancy abortion procedure.”
Signed Aug. 10 by Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, the law removes Massachusetts’ previous 24-week gestational limit and permits abortions at any stage of pregnancy “based upon the professional judgment of the physician,” as Zeale News previously reported.
Francis emphasized the dangers such procedures pose for mothers.
“There’s nothing in this law that says that at 39 weeks and five days, a woman could not have an abortion,” Francis said. “These procedures are risky for the mom. They lead to significant risk of complications.”
Francis also spoke out about how gruesome and extensive the pain is for unborn babies who are killed by abortion, especially later in the pregnancy.
“The science is very clear,” Francis said, “as early as 12 weeks of pregnancy, we know that babies feel pain, and we’re talking about here dismemberment abortion procedures, where these babies are torn limb from limb, sometimes while they’re alive, sometimes after they have had a heart attack induced by an injection directly into their heart.”
The radical expansion of the abortion law has prompted a number of pro-life advocates, Catholics, and others to speak out. CatholicVote President and CEO Kelsey Reinhardt has publicly appealed to the bishops of the state to clarify whether Healey, who identifies as Catholic, has excommunicated herself through signing the legislation. Reinhardt renewed her request after one of Healey’s representatives said the governor signed the legislation as “a proud Catholic.”
The law also divided Massachusetts Democrats in the state House, as Zeale News previously reported, with nine Democrats joining every Republican in opposition before the measure passed July 22, 119-33.
