Abortion bill goes back to gov
Action was fast and furious on Beacon Hill on Tuesday as lawmakers returned a bill expanding abortion to Gov. Charlie Baker — setting up a potential veto showdown — and released compromise health care legislation in the scramble to wade through a full agenda as the end of the legislative session looms.
Both the House and Senate rejected Baker’s attempts to dilute a budget rider expanding abortion access in the commonwealth. They opted to retain language that would codify abortion in state law for the first time, lower the age of consent for the procedures to 16, and allow lateterm abortions after 24 weeks in some instances.
The House voted 107-50 on Tuesday to re-enact legislation, followed moments later by a voice vote in the Senate to do the same.
The Republican governor must now decide whether to sign the bill or veto it, where it would face a narrow margin in the House, which edged the required threshold by just two votes. A veto override requires a two-thirds majority in both chambers. Baker said he takes issue with some of the language and late-term abortions and provisions of the abortion bill removing parental or judicial consent for 16- and 17-yearolds. House members on Tuesday were also busy working through more than 100 budget vetoes the governor returned earlier this month. He nixed $166.7 million, signing a $45.9 billion fiscal 2021 spending plan that he said represented a 4.5 percent increase in spending over fiscal 2020, “excluding certain trust fund transfers, pensions, and interfund transfers.”
A conference committee on Tuesday evening reached an agreement on health care legislation in negotiations since July.
“This comprehensive legislation builds on vital lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has placed unprecedented demands on our health care system,” conference committee co-chairs Sen. Cindy Friedman and House Majority Leader Ron Mariano said in a joint statement. The bill embraces telehealth — which lawmakers said has played a key role for patients and the medical community in the response to the pandemic.