From the National Catholic Register:
The Catholic bishops of Massachusetts have rebuked Gov. Maura Healey for enacting an unrestricted abortion bill into law, citing her Catholic faith while doing so.
On Friday, Nov. 6, Healey attached an emergency preamble to an all-nine-months abortion bill she signed Aug. 10, which under the state Constitution made the new law take effect immediately.
Her action also prevented pro-lifers from suspending the new abortion law pending a statewide referendum on it expected in November 2028.
In a 1,400-word Substack article, Healy justified her decision to enact the abortion bill immediately, citing her Catholicism.
“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,” she continued. “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.”
Over the weekend, Boston Archbishop Richard Henning and the bishops who lead the state’s three other Catholic dioceses criticized Healey’s rationale.
“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 Saturday, Nov. 7 in a written statement, which was also signed by Worcester Bishop Robert McManus, Fall River Bishop Edgar da Cunha, and Springfield Bishop William Byrne…
…The state’s bishops noted that Pope Leo XIV recently told leaders in Uruguay that the unborn “already belong to the human family” and that their dependence on their mother “does not diminish the dignity to which they are entitled or the protection they deserve.”
“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,” the Massachusetts bishops said. “As Pope Leo put it: ‘The right to life is the indispensable foundation of every other human right.’”
