Massachusetts Just Legalized Abortion Through All Nine Months — and Even Democrats Are Calling It ‘Barbaric’

The left has spent years telling Americans that late-term abortion is vanishingly rare — performed only in tragic circumstances involving wanted pregnancies and devastating diagnoses. If that were true, existing Massachusetts law already accommodated those cases. Physicians could already perform post-viability abortions when necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother. What the new law changes is not the medical exceptions. It eliminates the framework that required any justification at all.

The bill passed 119-33 in the state House, largely along party lines, after being rushed through in two weeks without public comment. That’s how you legislate when you know public opinion is not on your side. You move fast, limit debate, and sign it before anyone has time to ask what exactly you’re doing.

The polling context is worth noting carefully. A 2024 survey found 66 percent of Massachusetts voters supported expanding access after 24 weeks. But support for “expanding access” in a survey and support for unrestricted abortion through all nine months with public funding are not the same thing. The former is a carefully crafted poll question. The latter is what Massachusetts actually passed. When voters see what was actually signed — when Turco’s “barbaric” assessment reaches communities that don’t follow statehouse procedural votes — the poll numbers will look considerably different.