Massachusetts is close to giving doctors the final word on whether to perform late abortions

Massachusetts is on the way to giving doctors the final say on whether an abortion should be allowed late in pregnancy, a move expected to affect few cases but that supporters say is needed because hospitals are now turning away women they should be serving.

The state Senate adopted the measure Friday, sending it to Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, who has signed other laws strengthening abortion rights.

Under current Massachusetts law, abortion is legal for the first 24 weeks of pregnancy. It is allowed after that only if a physician using best medical judgment says it is necessary to preserve the life, physical or mental health of the woman, because of a lethal fetal anomaly or diagnosis or because the fetus wouldn’t likely survive outside the uterus.

State Rep. Christine Barber said that under that framework, hospitals turned away some women for abortions late in pregnancy, even in a case where a fetus had a stroke and was determined to be unlikely to survive.

The new law would take out the list of specific reasons and say simply that it would be allowed “based on the professional judgment of the physician.”

Opponents say that it would allow abortion until birth — even on healthy fetuses — and that later abortions are more complex and risky for the women.

“While this legislation prioritizes access, it does not prioritize a woman’s safety,” Myrna Maloney Flynn, president of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, said in a video encouraging supporters to tell lawmakers to reject the bill.

Abortion law changes have slowed but not stopped

If Healey signs it, the law would be the latest change to a U.S. abortion landscape that received a shock four years ago after a Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and allowed states to enforce abortion bans.

Some already had bans on the books as they waited for permission to enforce them, and others adopted bans or restrictions after the ruling. Currently, 13 states are enforcing bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with some exceptions. Another four bar it after about six weeks of pregnancy — which is often before women realize they are pregnant.

Several Democratic-controlled states have moved the other way, adding laws that seek to protect medical providers from prosecution for providing abortion to patients in other states. Massachusetts is among the states that has gone farthest, with a shield law that applies to those who prescribe abortion bills via telehealth to women in states where abortion is banned. Anti-abortion officials in Louisiana and Texas are testing those protections.

Most abortion-related state laws adopted this year have not made for major changes on when or how abortion is allowed.

For instance, a new Colorado law requires colleges that have student health centers to provide abortion pills for students starting in August 2027. Private schools that say it conflicts would their religious beliefs would be exempt.

A new Oklahoma law makes it a felony to buy or sell those pills for the purpose of an unlawful abortion for someone else.