The economic-related state bill, HB 5374, was passed by the House and Senate on November 3 and sent to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk. But the Republican governor used his veto pen to remove $1 million which pro-lifers called a taxpayer-funded “smear campaign” against crisis pregnancy centers in their state.
Myrna Flynn of Massachusetts Citizens for Life tells AFN abortion supporters have long complained the centers mislead women about their pro-life beliefs.
“Those centers, as we know,” she counters, “are critical for women in crisis as they provide free care, free medical assistance, supplies, advice.”
AFN has reported the state’s famous abortion-supporting U.S. senator, Elizabeth Warren, went on the warpath against Massachusetts-based pro-life centers over the summer after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a landmark ruling. The websites for those non-profit centers openly state they oppose abortion, AFN also reported.
The state money was allocated for a public campaign against the centers, which appears to be a follow-up to Warren’s public claim that the centers deceive women. But the governor exercised his line-item veto power and removed the $1 million, which marked a rare win for the pro-life cause in the liberal state.
“It was courageous on his part to do that,” Flynn says. “And so we have reached out and congratulated him for making the right decision.”
The bill was passed in a special session of the legislature so lawmakers will not be able to override the veto.
