Massachusetts eliminates 24-week abortion limit, becoming 10th state without a gestational cutoff
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Gov. Maura Healey says the new law will allow patients facing serious pregnancy complications to receive care closer to home.
Massachusetts has eliminated its previous restrictions on abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy, making it the 10th state without a gestational limit. Gov. Maura Healey signed the legislation on Aug. 10, saying the change will allow patients facing serious pregnancy complications to receive care closer to home.
Massachusetts has joined a growing group of states that have removed gestational limits on abortion following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. According to People, Gov. Maura Healey signed the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act on Monday, Aug. 10. The legislation removes the state’s previous restriction that generally limited abortions after 24 weeks except in extreme circumstances, including when a pregnant patient’s life was at risk.
Under the new law, decisions about abortion later in pregnancy will be left to patients and their physicians rather than the previous statutory limit. Healey said the change was driven in part by stories of families receiving devastating medical news late in pregnancy and then having to leave Massachusetts to obtain care. She argued that patients should be able to rely on doctors they know and trust without having to travel hundreds of miles.
Massachusetts now joins Alaska, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon and Vermont. The move has also drawn opposition. Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of SBA Pro-Life America, condemned the legislation, while the ACLU of Massachusetts welcomed it, arguing that abortion care is health care and that patients should not have to leave the state to access it.
The law comes amid a sharply divided national debate over abortion access. Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, individual states have taken increasingly different approaches, with some expanding protections while others have enacted abortion bans.