Overview
- The Massachusetts House approved the measure by a 119-33 vote that would eliminate the state’s statutory 24-week cutoff for abortion and defer decisions at or after 24 weeks to a physician’s professional judgment.
- The vote on July 22 moves the bill to the state Senate, where it must advance before the legislature’s July 31 deadline to remain alive this session.
- Backers including House leadership and the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association argue the current exceptions create a legal gray area that burdens clinicians and patients and that physician judgment with informed consent better fits complex cases.
- Data show late-term abortions are rare — 99 procedures at or beyond 24 weeks in 2024 — but advocates and providers say dozens of residents have been turned away and sometimes traveled out of state for care at high personal cost.
- If the Senate and governor approve the bill it would further broaden abortion law in Massachusetts after post-Dobbs reforms and a 2023 mifepristone stockpile, and could reduce out-of-state travel for patients while also drawing some out-of-state demand for late-pregnancy care.