{"id":36333,"date":"2026-08-18T11:49:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=36333"},"modified":"2026-08-18T12:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T11:02:13","slug":"catholic-group-demands-action-against-governor-healey-over-abortion-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/18\/catholic-group-demands-action-against-governor-healey-over-abortion-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Catholic Group Demands Action Against Governor Healey Over Abortion Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Catholic advocacy group is calling for Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey to face excommunication after she signed a controversial abortion law that opponents say could allow abortions later in pregnancy, including in cases where a physician determines the procedure is medically appropriate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healey, a Democrat and Catholic, signed the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act on Aug. 10. The law gives physicians greater discretion in determining whether a late-term abortion should be performed while providing legal protections for medical professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legislation has drawn strong opposition from Catholic groups, which argue that it conflicts directly with the Catholic Church’s teaching on the protection of unborn life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CatholicVote President Kelsey Reinhardt said the governor’s decision was serious enough to warrant consideration under Catholic Church law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“By the very fact of doing this no one has to proclaim you excommunicated you’ve done something so contrary to the faith that you’ve actually excommunicated yourself,” Reinhardt told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Catholic Church considers abortion a grave moral wrong and teaches that intentionally ending an innocent human life is contrary to its teachings. The Church’s position has frequently placed Catholic politicians who support abortion rights at the center of heated religious and political debates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Massachusetts’ Catholic bishops also opposed the legislation before Healey signed it, describing the expansion of late-term abortion access as a serious threat to the dignity of unborn children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Healey and supporters of the law have defended the measure as a way to protect patients and doctors, particularly women facing complicated pregnancies or serious fetal diagnoses. Supporters argue that medical decisions should be made by patients in consultation with their physicians rather than restricted by government officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dispute is not the first time a prominent Catholic politician has faced pressure from church leaders over abortion. In 2022, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco said then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should not receive Holy Communion because of her public support for abortion rights. Pelosi’s position on abortion had already sparked years of disagreement with Catholic leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The controversy surrounding Healey highlights the continuing tension between Catholic teaching and the political positions of Catholic elected officials who support abortion rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CatholicVote’s demand does not itself excommunicate Healey. Excommunication is a matter governed by Catholic canon law and must be addressed by the appropriate church authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate is expected to continue as Massachusetts moves toward implementing the new abortion protections. For opponents, the law represents a major expansion of abortion access, while supporters see it as an important safeguard for reproductive health care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Healey now faces renewed criticism from Catholic activists who argue that her actions are incompatible with her identity as a Catholic and are urging church authorities to take a stronger position.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Catholic advocacy group is calling for Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey to face excommunication after she signed a controversial abortion law that opponents say could allow abortions later in pregnancy, including in cases where a physician determines the procedure is medically appropriate. Healey, a Democrat and Catholic, signed the Prioritizing Patient Access to Care Act […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":36334,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,20,5,3],"tags":[22780,22778,22774,83,22779,22772,22781,22777,22775,22404,22776,22773,22400,111,14271,640],"class_list":["post-36333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-health-fitness","category-international","category-naija-news","tag-abortion-debate","tag-abortion-law","tag-abortion-rights","tag-catholic-church","tag-catholic-politicians","tag-catholicvote","tag-church-and-politics","tag-excommunication","tag-kelsey-reinhardt","tag-late-term-abortion","tag-massachusetts-abortion","tag-massachusetts-governor","tag-maura-healey","tag-nancy-pelosi","tag-reproductive-rights","tag-u-s-politics"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/image.webp?fit=896%2C500&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36337,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36333\/revisions\/36337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}