MassLive | Reproductive Equity Now backs AG Maura Healey for Massachusetts governor with Roe v. Wade on the brink of being overturned
By Alison Kuznitz
Story Originally Appeared on MassLive
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, brandishing her record as an abortion rights advocate with the Supreme Court on the cusp of overturning Roe v. Wade, secured an endorsement Tuesday from Reproductive Equity Now.
The advocacy organization, previously known as NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, lauded Healey’s “decades-long prioritization” of advancing reproductive equity as it backed her for governor.
“When I think reproductive freedom champion, I think Maura Healey,” Reproductive Equity Now Executive Director Rebecca Hart Holder said in a statement. “Maura has been a fierce defender of reproductive rights throughout her storied career, from her work investigating dangerous crisis pregnancy centers to her stalwart advocacy for the ROE Act in Massachusetts. While state legislatures across the country continue their hostile rollback of abortion rights, our Commonwealth will remain a beacon for reproductive freedom with Governor Healey at the helm.”
Yet without mentioning Healey’s opponent, state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz, by name, Reproductive Equity Now acknowledged that “Massachusetts is lucky to have two pro-reproductive equity candidates in the gubernatorial Democratic primary.”
Access to abortion is enshrined into Massachusetts state law, Healey and other state leaders have repeatedly reminded Bay Staters in recent weeks following Politico’s reporting on a leaked majority draft opinion from Justice Samuel Alito.
But with over half of women across the country potentially about to lose their abortion and reproductive care rights, Massachusetts officials — including Gov. Charlie Baker, Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Ron Mariano and Healey — have begun exploring ways to strengthen state statute.
Healey, in an interview Friday on GBH News’ Boston Public Radio, said Massachusetts must better protect abortion providers, particularly if more women come to the commonwealth from states with pending abortion bans.
Those providers could soon be prosecuted or investigated by states with abortion bans, Healey said, exposing them to civil and criminal liability without legislative intervention.
“We have to be a place that recognizes and respects the freedom of a woman to make a decision about her own body by herself — by herself,” Healey said in the GBH interview. “That’s where it is to me, so I’ll fight tooth and nail against anyone.”
Healey this week has also picked up endorsements from Congresswoman Lori Trahan and Lowell Mayor Lowell Sokhary Chau.
The attorney general on Tuesday said she was honored to gain support from Reproductive Equity Now and committed to partnering with the organization to ensure Massachusetts stays “a beacon of hope for anyone who is seeking care.”
“With the Supreme Court poised to overturn Roe v. Wade this summer, our next Governor needs to be fearless about protecting and expanding access to abortion care,” Healey said in a statement.
The endorsement comes less than a week after EMILY’s List backed Healey for governor. " Laphonza Butler, president of the nationwide organization supporting women in politics, described Healey as the “pro-choice leader that Massachusetts needs.”
But Chang-Díaz’s campaign rebuked that endorsement, accusing EMILY’s List of discounting “the only woman of color” in the race.
“Sonia has a proven track-record of fighting for women, including women of color,” Kaitlyn Solares, Chang-Díaz’s deputy communications director for digital strategy, said in a statement last week. “She is the only candidate in the race to have a public policy platform that advocates for the health and equity of all women and working people in our state. The feminist movement has a long history of erasing and excluding women of color — it’s inexcusable to repeat these same mistakes of the past.”