Christian Coalition of Alabama Issues Statement on Massachusetts Law Removing Late-Term Abortion Protections
“A legislature can change the law, but it cannot change the truth.”
From the Christian Coalition of Alabama
August 17
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Christian Coalition of Alabama today issued a formal statement responding to the enactment of Massachusetts House Bill 5595, which removes that state’s remaining statutory restrictions on abortions performed at or beyond 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Governor Maura Healey signed the measure on August 10. The law eliminates the four-part framework that had permitted abortions at that stage only in specific circumstances, and replaces it with a standard providing that an abortion may be performed by a physician based upon the professional judgment of the physician. The law takes effect 90 days after signing.
With its enactment, Massachusetts becomes one of ten states, along with the District of Columbia, that place no statutory gestational limit on abortion. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health recorded 99 abortions at 24 weeks or later in 2024, compared with 84 in 2023.
The Coalition’s statement, titled “When a State Abandons the Unborn,” argues that the change is not a technical adjustment to health-care regulation but the removal of legal protection from unborn children at an advanced stage of development.
“Twenty-four weeks is not an abstract number on a legislative calendar. We are talking about an unborn child well into development, a child whose humanity does not depend upon whether politicians in Boston choose to recognize it.”
— Christian Coalition of Alabama, “When a State Abandons the Unborn”
The statement is directed at the law and at what the Coalition describes as a worldview increasingly willing to treat unborn life as disposable, and it is explicit that the Coalition’s disagreement is not with women facing difficult circumstances. It calls on churches to support pregnancy resource centers, on families to consider adoption and foster care, on fathers to accept responsibility, and on Christians to ensure that no woman in Alabama believes abortion is her only option because no one will stand beside her.
The statement also addresses Alabama directly, warning that the state cannot assume its own protections are permanent. In November 2018, Alabama voters approved a constitutional amendment recognizing the rights of the unborn.
The full statement, “When a State Abandons the Unborn,” is available in its entirety at:
https://ccalabama.org/massachusetts-h5595.php
The Christian Coalition of Alabama is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to advancing Christian values in Alabama’s public policy and government. Under the leadership of Dr. Randy Brinson, the CCA advocates for government accountability, religious liberty, family values, and the protection of citizens from the abuse of institutional power.
