At a hearing before the MA Committee on Public Health on Tuesday, legislators heard testimony on Senate Bill 754, which would lower the age for young women in the Commonwealth to receive an abortion without parental consent from 18 to 16. The legislation would also eliminate the waiting period between when a woman gives written consent and when the abortion is performed.  For girls aged 15 and younger, this bill would lower the threshold for obtaining an abortion by only requiring the consent of one parent instead of both.  Young girls can still bypass any parental involvement by getting a judge’s written permission.

Proponents, including the sponsor of the bill, argued that this was about a young woman’s “choice” to receive an abortion. A panel of supporters tried to convince legislators that abortion rates wouldn’t go up because of this bill, even trying to claim current Massachusetts law punishes girls who find themselves unexpectedly pregnant. But as Representative Jim Lyons (R – Andover) pointed out when questioning the bill’s sponsor, Senator Michael Barrett (D – Lexington), this bill is really trying to make it easier for children, yes children, to terminate a pregnancy without any input from their parents. One supporter admitted to the committee that her group’s ultimate goal is to have on-demand abortion readily available to anyone in the state, with few if any restrictions.

In my testimony against the bill, I reminded legislators of the number of other activities minors are prohibited from engaging in without parental consent, including receiving a tattoo, getting a piercing, or even receiving non-prescription medication, i.e. Tylenol or Advil, for a headache at school.  Shouldn’t abortion, which involves the taking of an unborn life and can produce an incredible amount of emotional trauma on the part of the mother, be held to a higher standard? I also asked legislators how low they were comfortable lowering the age of consent for abortion.  If 16, why not age 14, or lower? Finally, I reminded the committee that this bill has been submitted many times before and time and time again such an attempt to push the abortion industry’s agenda on Massachusetts’ youth has been rejected.  Let us pray it receives the same fate this session, and please email or call your legislators to tell them so!

UPDATE: We just learned yesterday that another pro-abortion bill, the Sex Ed Bill has come up for a vote in the Senate Thursday, July 20. Both of these bills are part of Planned Parenthood’s twisted concept of “comprehensive sexual health.” Let your legislators know you want them to vote NO on the Sex Ed Bill.

Chris Lloyd
Policy Analyst