Catholic bishops rebuke Gov. Maura Healey for using faith to justify 'radically permissive' abortion law

The Roman Catholic bishops of Massachusetts recently rebuked the commonwealth's Democratic Gov. Maura Healey for attempting to use her Catholic faith to justify enacting a law that permits abortion through all nine months of pregnancy.

Citing recent remarks from Pope Leo XIV in Uruguay emphasizing that the unborn are human beings and that human value is not diminished by illness or weakness, Boston Archbishop Richard Henning joined with the bishops who lead the other dioceses of Massachusetts to condemn Healey's Nov. 6 Substack article titled "Why Massachusetts' new abortion law can't wait."

In the 1,400-word article, Healey cited her Catholicism to defend her decision to override a repeal effort and immediately enact the abortion bill, which she signed into law in August while surrounded by applauding women. The bill, which was enacted last Friday, removed the state's previous restrictions on abortions after 24 weeks' gestation, allowing them for any reason based on "the professional judgment of the physician."

"I am Catholic, and my faith is an important part of who I am. It has shaped my understanding of service, responsibility and our obligation to care for others. My faith teaches me to meet people with compassion, respect their dignity, and approach suffering with humility," Healey wrote.

"I am also Governor for people of every faith and belief. My responsibility is to ensure that every family can make deeply personal medical decisions according to their own circumstances, values and the guidance of their doctors," she continued.

Henning rebuked Healey's line of argument in a Nov. 7 statement that was also signed by Worcester Bishop Robert McManus, Fall River Bishop Edgar da Cunha and Springfield Bishop William Byrne.

"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,” the bishops said.

"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 continued.

The new abortion statute, which is Chapter 188 of Massachusetts General Laws, has prompted more than 100,000 signatures from registered voters seeking to repeal it, which meets the Massachusetts Constitution's threshold for preventing it from being enacted. Healey overrode the repeal effort by enacting it on Nov. 8 under an "emergency statement."

In her Substack article, Healey said Massachusetts voters can reconsider the repeal option on the ballot in 2028, but that denying abortion to women until then was "not a reality I can accept here in Massachusetts."

"The repeal campaign can continue its work, and Massachusetts voters will have their say. If they choose to repeal the law, we will respect their decision. But families should not have to go without the care they need while that process plays out," she said.

During a recent post-election interview with The Christian Post, Family Research Council President Tony Perkins suggested that the U.S. could be facing divine chastisement for increasingly aborting its own children. He claimed the recent Republican midterm wipeout could be the spiritual consequence of a political party that has stepped back from offering firm political resistance to abortion, softening its pro-life stance in its 2024 party platform.

Statistics show that clinician-provided abortions in the United States have increased since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Despite abortion bans in some states, the number of unborn lives killed in the womb rose from roughly 930,000 in 2020 to more than 1 million each year since 2023, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.

An estimated 63 million children have been aborted in the U.S. since 1973, including more than 20% of Gen Z, according to the Population Research Institute.