MASSACHUSETTS
RANKING: 38Massachusetts continues to lack enforceable abortion clinic regu-lations and fails to adequately protect unborn victims of violence. Further, the state allows human cloning-for-biomedical-research and destructive embryo research. Healthcare providers who conscien-tiously object to such research also remain unprotected.
ABORTION:
• The Massachusetts Constitution has been interpreted as providing a broader right to abortion than provided in the U.S. Constitution.
• Massachusetts’ informed consent law is enjoined.
• A physician may not perform an abortion on an unmarried minor under the age of 18 without the written consent of one parent or a court order.
• Massachusetts taxpayers are required by court order to pay for “medically necessary” abortions for women eligible for public assistance. This requirement essentially equates
to funding abortion-on-demand in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s broad defi nition of
“health” in the context of abortion.
• State employee health insurance provides coverage of abortion only when a woman’s life or health is endangered or in cases of rape, incest, or fetal abnormality, and may not cover partial-birth abortions. Further, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) may not be required to provide payment or referrals for abortion unless necessary to preserve the woman’s life.
• Massachusetts’ requirement that abortions after the 12th week of pregnancy be per-formed in hospitals is, under current U.S. Supreme Court precedent, unenforceable. • Only physicians authorized to practice medicine in the state of Massachusetts may
per-form abortions.
• The state has an enforceable abortion reporting law, but does not require the reporting of information to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The measure pertains to both surgical and nonsurgical abortions and requires abortion providers to report short-term complications.
Americans United for Life
• Massachusetts requires that sexual assault victims receive information about and access to “emergency contraception” in emergency rooms. The state also allows pharmacists to dispense “emergency contraception” directly and without a prescription.
• State employee health insurance provides coverage of abortion only when a woman’s life or health is endangered or in cases of rape, incest, or fetal abnormality, and may not cover partial-birth abortions. Further, health maintenance organizations (HMOs) may not be required to provide payment or referrals for abortion unless necessary to preserve the woman’s life.
• Health insurance plans that provide prescription coverage must also provide coverage for contraception. The provision includes an exemption so narrow it excludes the ability of most employers and insurers with moral or religious objections from exercising the exemption.
LEGAL RECOGNITION OF UNBORN AND NEWLY BORN:
• The Massachusetts Supreme Court has determined the state’s homicide law applies to the killing of an unborn child after viability.
• The state allows wrongful death (civil) actions when a viable unborn child is killed through negligent or criminal action.
• The state requires healthcare professionals to report suspected prenatal drug exposure. BIOETHICS LAWS:
• While Massachusetts prohibits cloning-to-produce-children, it statutorily permits clon-ing-for-biomedical-research and destructive embryo research—thus making it a “clone-and-kill” state.
• The Massachusetts Public Health Council has reversed a rule put in place during the gubernatorial administration of Mitt Romney that prohibited scientists from creating hu-man embryos for the purpose of destroying them for research.
• Further, the state funds destructive embryo research. It also allows tax credits for “life
sciences,” including “stem cell research.” Because “stem cell research” is not defi ned,
the funds and tax credits could also apply to adult stem cell research.
only experimentation on live fetuses and allowing experimentation on dead fetuses with consent of the parents.
• Massachusetts requires a degree of informed consent before a physician can harvest eggs for purposes of assisted reproductive technologies. In the research setting, the state prohibits the purchase of eggs for “valuable consideration.”
• Massachusetts has established an umbilical cord blood bank for the purpose of collect-ing and storcollect-ing umbilical cord blood and placental tissues. All licensed hospitals are to inform pregnant patients of the opportunity to donate the umbilical cord and placenta following delivery.
• Other than requiring informed consent regarding the disposition of embryos and the risks of human egg harvesting, the state does not regulate assisted reproductive technologies. END OF LIFE LAWS:
• In Massachusetts, assisted suicide is a common law crime. HEALTHCARE
RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE LAWS: Participation in Abortion:
• A physician or person associated with, employed by, or on the medical staff of a hospital or health facility who objects in writing and on religious or moral grounds is not required to participate in abortions. Medical and nursing students are also protected.
• A private hospital or health facility is not required to admit a woman for an abortion. Participation in Research Harmful to Human Life:
• Massachusetts currently provides no protection for the rights of healthcare providers who conscientiously object to participation in human cloning, destructive embryo re-search, or other forms of immoral medical research.
WHAT HAPPENED IN 2011:
• Massachusetts considered a measure repealing a ban on abortion that was in place prior to Roe v. Wade (1973). Conversely, the state considered a ban on partial-birth abortion, as well as a ban on sex-selective abortions.
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• In addition, the state considered legislation requiring informed consent for abortion, re-lating to parental consent, and requiring health and safety regulations for facilities per-forming abortions.
• In a move toward allowing peaceful (and constitutional) pro-life demonstrations, the state considered a measure repealing its law restricting persons from being within 18 feet of a reproductive healthcare facility.
• Massachusetts considered measures protecting unborn victims of violence and criminal-izing assaults on pregnant women and/or providing enhanced penalties for such actions. • Massachusetts considered measures promoting ethical alternatives to destructive forms
of embryo research and relating to embryo adoption. Conversely, the state also consid-ered legislation promoting destructive embryo research, as well as legislation related to assisted reproductive technologies and insurance coverage of such procedures.
• Massachusetts considered legalizing physician-assisted suicide, as well as a measure relating to advanced planning documents. The state also considered measures related to pain management and palliative care.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MASSACHUSETTS
TOP PRIORITIES:
• State Constitutional Amendment (providing that there is no state constitutional
right to abortion)
• Personhood Preamble
• Abortion Mandate Opt-Out Act • Abortion Subsidy Prohibition Act • Women’s Right to Know Act • Women’s Health Protection Act • Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act
• Crimes Against the Unborn Child Act (to protect an unborn child from
conception)
• Assisted Suicide Ban Act
OTHER PRIORITIES: Abortion
o Women’s Ultrasound Right to Know Act
o Coercive Abuse Against Mothers Prevention Act
o Child Protection Act
o Joint Resolution Commending Pregnancy Centers Legal Recognition and Protection for the Unborn:
o Unborn Wrongful Death Act (for pre-viable child) o Born-Alive Infant Protection Act
o Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act Bioethics:
o Human Cloning Prohibition Act o Destructive Embryo Research Act
o Prohibition on Public Funding of Human Cloning and Destructive
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Healthcare Freedom of Conscience: