Gov. Maura Healey has picked Elizabeth “Bessie” Dewar, the state solicitor and a former US Supreme Court clerk, as her first nomination to the state Supreme Judicial Court.
Abortion Rights
Posted inHealth, State House News Service
Poll: Abortion restrictions affect college decisions in Northeast
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE COMPETITION among colleges for students is intensifying, and state laws banning abortion are among the new considerations for students and families. A recent poll of students and families in nine Northeast states found that 76 percent of students do not want to attend school in a state where abortion is […]
Posted inThe Download
For Wu and Healey, reproductive rights become a selling point
Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are starting to make the case that the national fight over abortion could make the state a magnet for people concerned about their reproductive rights. At events on Beacon Hill on Monday, the governor and mayor suggested the strong support in Massachusetts for reproductive rights could lure […]
Posted inPolitics, State Government
For Wu and Healey, reproductive rights become a selling point
GOV. MAURA HEALEY and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are starting to make the case that the national fight over abortion could make the state a magnet for people concerned about their reproductive rights. At events on Beacon Hill on Monday, the governor and mayor suggested the strong support in Massachusetts for reproductive rights could lure […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass. moves to stockpile supplies of abortion pill
MASSACHUSETTS IS STOCKPILING the abortion drug mifepristone through the state university system and health care providers, shoring up access to the medication after a federal judge in Texas issued an order that could invalidate the drug’s 23-year-old authorization by the end of the week. At Gov. Maura Healey’s request, the University of Massachusetts Amherst last […]
Posted inHealth
Bringing the abortion pill litigation into focus
Late Friday afternoon, two whiplash-inducing rulings out of Texas and Washington State threw the status of a commonly used abortion medication into limbo. Here’s why these cases matter in Massachusetts and what to expect for the next week. Are these two court rulings about one specific pill, or all types of abortion medication? They are focused on one […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Health, Politics
Abortion rights gaining currency in down-ballot races
WITH POLLS showing Massachusetts voters highly concerned about abortion rights, candidates for office – even for down-ballot jobs that seemingly have little to do with the issue – are coming up with ways to demonstrate it’s a high priority. Tanisha Sullivan, a Democratic candidate for secretary of state, made abortion rights a centerpiece of her […]
Posted inOpinion
How to use the secretary of state’s office to protect abortion rights
LAST FRIDAY, Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law a bill codifying several measures first included in an executive order he issued following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. When it comes to protecting reproductive freedom, it’s an important start, but not nearly enough. The Dobbs decision represents a critical encroachment on the […]
Posted inPolitics
Harris calls Mass. a model on abortion rights
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS STANDS as a “model” that other states should follow to protect access to abortions and other reproductive health care, Vice President Kamala Harris said during a visit to the Bay State on Thursday. Offering praise both for the Democrats who crafted a substantial reproductive care bill and for Republican Gov. […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Courts, Health Care, Opinion
Why the Kansas ballot question on abortion matters
MANY PEOPLE ACROSS the United States are devastated by the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs, which overturned a half century of precedent and abolished the federal constitutional right to abortion. For years, many activists have channeled that despair into fighting for change at the federal level, for instance, by pressing Congress to pass laws that […]