On November 6th, hours after over 113,000 signatures were filed that would put Chapter 188 on hold until the voters could decide, Governor Healey issued an emergency preamble that forces the law into effect and strips the petition of its power to suspend it. That same day, Reproductive Equity Now pointed to at least nine Massachusetts women facing devastating pregnancy complications who had been denied abortions while waiting for the law to take effect.
As a member of the Compassionate Care Coalition, MFI is proud to share what happened next. Within days, Wicker & Reed, an adoption agency based at His Providence Church in Swansea, found eleven couples who are ready to welcome these babies, whatever their medical needs and however short their lives. That’s more waiting families than there are mothers in need. With help from local churches and generous donors to cover the costs of any extensive medical needs, these couples are ready to say yes today.
The next day, Archbishop Henning and the Catholic bishops of Massachusetts said it plainly. They “disagree that there is an emergency requiring the further expansion of the existing and already radically permissive law.” Echoing Pope Leo XIV, they called on all of us to accompany mothers and fathers in crisis and to build a culture that loves every member of the human family. That is exactly what these families are ready to do.
We join the coalition in asking Reproductive Equity Now to make sure each of these mothers knows that help is waiting for her. Read the full announcement below.
11 Massachusetts Families Step Forward for Nine Mothers Facing Devastating Pregnancy Diagnoses
Massachusetts Family Action, Massachusetts Family Institute, Compassionate Care Coalition, and Wicker & Reed call on Reproductive Equity Now to connect the mothers it describes with adoption and support.
SWANSEA, MA — On November 6, Governor Healey signed an emergency preamble putting Chapter 188 into immediate effect. That day, Kathleen Melendy, Massachusetts State Director of Reproductive Equity Now, said in a public statement that “at least nine Massachusetts patients facing devastating pregnancy complications have been denied compassionate abortion care here in the Commonwealth while waiting for the law to take effect.” Reproductive Equity Now was one of the law’s leading advocates. It ran a public campaign for the bill and endorsed Governor Healey for re-election this year.
The Compassionate Care Coalition saw that statement and partnered with Wicker & Reed, a private adoption agency based out of His Providence Church in Swansea, to offer these nine mothers a better path. Since November 6, Wicker & Reed has connected with 11 families who are licensed, or in the process of becoming licensed, to adopt in Massachusetts. All of them are ready and willing to welcome these babies. Wicker & Reed is working with local churches and generous donors to help cover birth-related and adoption expenses. It will walk alongside each mother through her pregnancy and delivery.
All 11 families are prepared to welcome babies with serious medical needs, including those whose time may be short, and to love and care for them for as long as they live. A devastating diagnosis is heartbreaking, and we can’t imagine the grief a mother carries when she learns her time with her baby may be brief. In those moments, the families, Wicker & Reed and a caring community of local churches and supporters will walk alongside her as a circle of support. They will offer emotional and practical support and help with birth-related and adoption expenses, with dignity and respect for her and her child.
“We believe the most compassionate path is one where every mother is supported and every baby, however short their life, knows only love, warmth and comfort,” said Sam Miele, Chairman of the Compassionate Care Coalition.
Over the past two years, Wicker & Reed has met with many pregnant women deciding between abortion, adoption and parenting. Of those women, the agency can identify only one pregnancy that ended in abortion. Many of the calls it receives involve late-term pregnancies. Women who were offered late-term abortions elsewhere have chosen adoption after meeting with Wicker & Reed.
“Our hope at Wicker & Reed is that women never feel alone in their pregnancy and that choosing life always remains an option,” said Kim Gagne, Executive Director of Wicker & Reed.
The mother’s life is protected in every case. No mother should face this alone. For any of these mothers who chooses to carry her pregnancy, her health comes first, her doctors’ care for her comes first, and families and support are ready for her and her baby.
The Compassionate Care Coalition calls on Reproductive Equity Now to make the responsible choice: connect these nine mothers with Wicker & Reed. Then each of them will know all of her options before she makes a decision, and know that families, care and support are waiting for her and her baby.
About Wicker & Reed
Wicker & Reed is a private adoption agency based out of His Providence Church in Swansea, Massachusetts. It aims to be a resource for women as they make the hardest decisions of their lives. Learn more at wickerandreed.org. Media contact: Kim Gagne, Executive Director, 774-644-5528, kim@wickerandreed.org.
About the Compassionate Care Coalition
The Compassionate Care Coalition is a ballot committee organized to suspend and repeal Chapter 188 of the Acts of 2026 in Massachusetts, which the Coalition calls the Zero Safeguards Abortion Law. Learn more at repeal188.com.”
