The Massachusetts State House voted Monday to override the governor’s veto on legislation that would expand access to abortion services in the state and codify access to abortion in state law.
WBUR reported that the bill will now go to the Senate, which is also expected to override Governor Charlie Baker (R) veto against the bill on Christmas Eve.
The bill that would lower the age at which people can apply for an abortion from 18 to 16 and allow the procedure after 24 weeks of gestation in some cases.
Baker’s veto came after the legislature rejected his request to enforce the age limit for obtaining the proceeding without parental or court consent.
The state house voted 107-46 on Monday to lift the governor’s veto, according to WBUR, freeing just the two-thirds margin needed to do so.
Gus Bickford, chairman of the Democratic State Party, celebrated the results in a statement to the news station, accusing Baker of joining the far-right wing of his own party.
Hoping we would all be too busy to notice, Charlie Baker once again plunged into the far-right wing of his Republican Party by vetoing crucial abortion access provisions that would bring our laws into line with neighboring states such as Maine, New York and Connecticut, ”Bickford said. “Charlie Baker chooses to stand behind right-wing extremists instead of doctors, women and the vast majority of Massachusetts voters.”
Jim Lyons, the chairman of the state GOP, told WBUR that Baker’s decision should “send a message to lawmakers that this legislation does not belong in a humane society.”
Democrats have been concerned about the future of abortion rights in the US in the weeks following the successful confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett
Amy Coney Barrett Death is different Georgia mega church pastor tests positive for COVID-19 Chris Christie posts video on people refusing to wear mask: ‘Learn from my experience’ MORE, worried about leftist activists, will seek to overturn the groundbreaking abortion lawsuit Roe v. Wade as part of her tenure in the country’s highest court.
Those fears first emerged during Barrett’s confirmation hearings, at which the then-candidate said she did not see Roe v. Wade as a permanently resolved issue.
At around the same time, it was revealed that Barrett had agreed to an ad calling on the University of Notre Dame to reaffirm its opposition to abortion and “renew our call for the unborn to be legally protected and welcomed into life.”
– Updated at 10:15 PM