Massachusetts Governor Charlie Barker is urged by the pro-life community to veto a newly passed 'Infanticide Act' that allows and expands access to abortion, a report says.
Under the new legislation, late-term abortion will now be allowed for up to 24 weeks. Babies who also survive an abortion will be without protection, the Christian Headlines reported.
Claire Ronin, a Democrat state representative, sponsored the pro-choice amendment.
In a weaker language from the current bill, Cronin's amendment will allow late-term abortion, repeal parental consent and leave babies who survive the abortion without any surety of being cared for.
Under the new bill, a "life supporting equipment" is provided to allow the physician doing the abortion to "preserve the life and health of a live birth and the patient." However, the so-called Infanticide Act removes the word "shall" from such a case and also states that only the doctor can 'save' the baby if he or she survives the abortion.
Under the current law in Massachusetts, only a licensed physician can perform an abortion. With the new budget amendment passed by both the House and Senate lawmakers, even nurse practitioners, physician assistants and midwives can now perform abortions.
The current law also prohibits abortion the moment a pregnancy has passed the 24-week mark and can only be allowed at such point if it will save the life of the mother or if such a pregnancy will gravely impair her health, either physically, mentally or both.
In addition to the new changes, minors ages 16 and 17 can have an abortion if they want to since the new amendment repeals parental consent.
There is a cry among pro-life groups to veto the new bill which puts that "a baby may be killed at any point in the pregnancy," according to the one-page brief released by the Massachusetts Family Institute.
Several pro-life groups are now urging Mass. Gov. Barker to veto the amendment, with Massachusetts Family Institute being one of them.
As a governor, Barker can "line-item veto" specific parts of the newly passed bill as mandated by Massachusetts law.
In a blog, Massachusetts Family Institute called for help to tell the governor to veto the bill saying the fight is not over yet.
"Call the Governor at 617-725-4005 and tell him he must veto this bill. Even if you can't get through to a live person, please still leave a message. The fight is not over yet."
The Christian Headlines reported that Gov. Barker, who is a Republican, said in an earlier statement that he opposes late-term abortion.
Aside from getting a veto, the pro-life group hopes to secure the support of at least five more House members to help them sustain a veto against the amendment which they now dubbed as the "Infanticide Act."
"The reason why this legislation has earned the moniker 'Infanticide Act' is because it removes the requirement that an abortionist 'shall' save the life of a baby born alive during a botched abortion and replaces it with the requirement to simply have life-saving equipment in the room with no obligation to use it," the Massachusetts Family Institute said.
