thebridgehead.ca
2026-08-21
There are scenes that sum up the sickness of an era, and we saw one of them unfold in the office of Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey on Monday.
She was at her desk, surrounded by beaming women. There was flashing and the sound of camera shutters; the governor bent over and signed a document. She nodded as the women broke out into laughter and applause. "Thank you," she said. She handed out the pens she used to sign the document as souvenirs so that the triumphant spectators could remember and relish the moment.
The momentous event was Governor Healy's signing of the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act, which eliminated one of the state's last remaining abortion laws. Previously, abortion after 24 weeks of pregnancy was restricted to a handful of instances, including to "preserve the life of the patient" or the patient's "physical or mental health," the likelihood that the child would not survive long outside the womb, or a "lethal fetal anomaly." Now, abortion is legal until birth.
The name of the law is a lie. This legislation does not prioritize patients. It permits the killing of full-term babies that can survive outside the womb (a preemie born at 21 weeks survived in Iowa last year). The previous Massachusetts regime already permitted the destruction of preborn children who might not survive; it permitted the killing of those that were sick; it allowed the termination of those who were disabled. This law is something else. It ensures that women can have healthy babies murdered any time before delivery.