Fights on abortion, police reform loom in Legislature
Two of the most divisive issues of the political session — abortion and police reform — are back before the Legislature this week, with groups on both sides making last-minute appeals to lawmakers while Gov. Charlie Baker’s veto threats loom.
Baker last week returned bills to the Legislature, suggesting changes to proposals that would expand abortion access and create the state’s first-ever certification system against police misconduct. With less than three weeks left in the current legislative session, lawmakers must either accept the Republican governor’s amendments, amend them further, or send the bill back to the governor and risk vetoes.
On Friday, Baker signed the $45.9 billion fiscal 2021 state budget, cutting $156 million from the Legislature’s compromise budget and sending back a provision would lower the age of consent for abortion to 16. A day earlier, Baker returned the much-anticipated police reform bill, amending lawmakers’ attempts to limit the use of facial recognition technology and put police training under civilian control.
On Friday, Black leaders from across the state condemned Baker’s actions on the police reform bill, with U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley saying “the Governor chose to blink and potentially stand on the wrong side of history.”
Police groups are fighting the changes they say would put officers’ lives at risk.
Baker’s amendment to the abortion provision preserves some of lawmakers’ intent to expand access, but stops short of removing parental consent from 16- and 17-yearolds — something opponents pushed against.
“Despite our disappointment, we are hopeful that the full legislature accepts the language proposed by the Governor to retain eighteen as the age of consent,” the Catholic bishops of Massachusetts said in a statement.