BOSTON — Gov. Maura Healey is standing by her controversial bill expanding abortion up to the day of birth, as well as her emergency declaration last week to immediately implement it, as the Boston Archdiocese and Catholic leaders across Massachusetts condemn the move.

Healey utilized her executive authority late last week to block a citizen effort to repeal the controversial abortion expansion law she signed in August by declaring it an emergency to immediately put it into effect.

“The signature effort goes forward. The repeal effort goes forward and that will be on the ballot,” Healey said when asked by the Herald if the emergency declaration was necessary and if it was meant to thwart the repeal effort. “I support that being on the ballot and for allowing voters to have their say. I also believe it’s really important (for people to know) that this is health care. And already, since the law was passed and I signed it, I’ve heard stories from women and from couples of not being able to get the care that they needed here in Massachusetts.

“They had to travel out of state,” the governor added. “They had to incur a lot of sadness, anxiety and several thousands of dollars in expenses because the law had not yet gone into effect. So I wanted to make sure that I was taking the steps necessary to make sure that women and couples have access to the health care that they need, and that will continue. And the repeal effort will continue as well, and I’ll respect what the voters do.”

The move came after Massachusetts Family Action and Massachusetts Citizens for Life (MCFL), the groups seeking to repeal the law, announced they had far exceeded the required 37,000 signatures to put a repeal measure before voters on the 2028 ballot. The groups gathered nearly 100,000 signatures for the repeal effort.

Healey signed the “Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act” into law on Aug. 10, which effectively allows abortions up to the day of birth by giving health care workers greater discretion in determining whether to perform an abortion later in pregnancy, without facing legal penalties under the state’s previous restrictions. Massachusetts became the 10th state in the U.S. to remove gestational limits on abortion.

State law had previously prohibited abortions after 24 weeks, with limited exceptions.

On Saturday, the Boston Archdiocese and Massachusetts Catholic leaders condemned Healey in a written statement, slamming the governor’s online editorial explaining the emergency order and challenging her assertion that abortion should be considered health care.

“Having read the Governor’s editorial defending her decision to override the results of the Repeal188 efforts, we respectfully and passionately disagree that abortion, the taking of human life, may be considered health care. We also disagree that there is an emergency requiring the further expansion of the existing and already radically permissive law,” wrote Archbishop Richard Henning, Bishop Robert Joseph McManus of Worcester, Bishop Edgar Moreira da Cunha of Fall River, and Bishop William Byrne of Springfield

“We call upon the legislators who crafted and passed this bill, and all men and women of good will, to reconsider the troubling state of our culture and its utilitarian and merciless approach to the elderly, the sick, the vulnerable, and the unborn. As Pope Leo put it: ‘The right to life is the indispensable foundation of every other human right,’ ” they said.

The Herald has requested comment from Healey in response to the criticism from the Church.

Healey’s August signing of the bill into law was met with backlash from both Republicans and Democrats in Massachusetts, including state Rep. Chris Markey, D-9th Bristol, who told Fox News Digital the law “creates a very slippery slope,” and is not consistent with the beliefs of his constituents.

“I am deeply disappointed in the passage of this bill. This bill creates a very slippery slope. I believe this law puts doctors in a very difficult ethical dilemma, as well as conflicts with long-standing criminal case law. This law, I believe, is not consistent with the beliefs of the vast majority of my constituents,” said Markey. “While many are pro-choice, you can still be pro-choice and see this law as going beyond the norms of acceptability.”

Markey was among nine state Democrats to vote against the bill, including state Rep. Dennis Gallagher, D-8th Plymouth, who said the changes implemented in the new law were “unnecessary.”

The governor was also criticized for signing the bill into law with a visible grin as a coalition of women followed suit behind her as she put pen to paper.

“The bottom line for people in Massachusetts, if you care about women’s health, if you care about making sure that women are able to access the health care that they need in consultation with their doctors, should be clear. I stand with women. My opponents do not,” Healey said during the signing, before pivoting to President Trump.

“It is up to the states to lead. And as governor, I promise that no matter what Donald Trump or Republicans in Congress or the Supreme Court does, we’re going to continue to make sure that women and families have access to the health care that they need, right here in Massachusetts,” she said.

With the emergency declaration, Massachusetts now joins Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington, D.C. in removing gestational age limits on abortion.

_____

©2026 MediaNews Group, Inc. Visit at bostonherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.