Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday that women's access to reproductive health care is not up for negotiation in Massachusetts, but suggested he would oppose an expansive abortion rights bill that would allow for abortions later in pregnancy in cases when the fetus is unlikely to survive after birth. While the governor bemoaned the "inflated language" that gets used in the abortion debate — including by his own Republican party — Baker said he opposes "late-term abortion" and would defend the strength of the state's current laws. Some Democrats on Beacon Hill are pushing legislation to expand access to abortion services in Massachusetts at a time when they worry that a woman's right to choose is under attack at the federal level and in jeopardy because of an ideological shift on the Supreme Court. "I don't support late-term abortions. I support current law here in Massachusetts. It's worked well for decades for women and families here in Massachusetts and that's what we support," said Baker, a pro-choice Republican. Baker's comments came after he held a ceremonial bill-signing event with House Speaker Robert DeLeo, Senate President Karen Spilka and over a dozen lawmakers and advocates to celebrate their work to shield family planning clinics from federal funding cuts.

"I support current law here in Massachusetts. It's worked well for decades for women and families here in Massachusetts and that's what we support." Gov. Charlie Baker

The bill, which Baker officially signed on Friday evening, would make up to $8 million available through June 30, 2020 — the end of fiscal year 2020 — to cover the loss of any Title X funding as a result of the Trump administration's new rule blocking funds to clinics that provide abortions or abortion referrals. "It was important we felt to point out women's access to reproductive health care services here in the commonwealth of Massachusetts is not a negotiation of something that can be bargained out through some sort of legislative process in Washington, D.C.," Baker said. The "ROE Act" filed by Senate President Emerita Harriette Chandler and Speaker Pro Tempore Pat Haddad would expand access to abortion services, including allowing for abortions after 24 weeks in certain cases. "Late-term abortions are for very specific reasons that should be decided with a medical professional and the family involved," Haddad told the News Service. "We already have women who leave the state when there are cases of a fatal fetal anomaly. That's what we're talking about. We're talking a fetus that can't survive outside the womb. We're talking about a fetus that has no future." Told that the governor had just expressed his opposition, Haddad said, "We will agree to disagree and I will try to convince him. I think that what's out there is that people are saying this is abortion on demand. It is not."

"We already have women who leave the state when there are cases of a fatal fetal anomaly. That's what we're talking about. We're talking a fetus that can't survive outside the womb. We're talking about a fetus that has no future." Speaker Pro Tempore Pat Haddad