MassLive | Republican governor nominee Geoff Diehl called a ‘grave threat’ to abortion access, reproductive care in Massachusetts

By Alison Kuznitz
Story Originally Appeared on MassLive

As abortion access crystallizes into a central theme of the race for Massachusetts governor, reproductive care providers and advocates condemned newly minted Republican nominee Geoff Diehl over the threat they say he poses to women here and across the country who come to the commonwealth for health services.

The message issued Thursday comes two days after Attorney General Maura Healey cruised to a predictable victory in the Democratic primary — and as Diehl, who was endorsed for the corner office by former President Donald Trump, beat Wrentham business owner and political novice Chris Doughty.

Nate Horwitz-Willis, executive director of the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, called Diehl a “grave threat to patients and providers.”

“Diehl is a fixture of the anti-abortion movement in Massachusetts — he’s even filed legislation to jail doctors for providing abortion care,” Horwitz-Willis said in a statement Thursday morning. “We’re proud that Massachusetts has some of the strongest reproductive health protections in the country, but we cannot ignore how dangerous Diehl’s anti-abortion agenda is when the Supreme Court has robbed patients of their right to basic reproductive health care. We can’t allow Geoff Diehl near the governor’s office.”

Dr. Chloe Zera, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist in Boston, echoed that fear as she lamented Diehl’s anti-medicine agenda will “do real harm to people in Massachusetts.”

“As providers, our first priority is offering compassionate, loving, comprehensive reproductive health care, including abortion, for everyone who wants or needs it,” Zera said in a statement. “We cannot afford to elect a governor who threatens patient-centered care, especially in a state like Massachusetts that can continue to lead the way for reproductive freedom.”

Diehl’s campaign on Thursday did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

When the Supreme Court in June ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, Diehl and lieutenant governor running mate Leah Cole Allen welcomed the decision. They underscored their ticket’s belief about “protecting innocent life wherever possible” and having the federal government endow states with the autonomy to enact abortion-related legislation.

In the lead-up to the primary, Diehl said he is “personally pro-life” in a MassLive candidate questionnaire.

“I disagree with the Legislature’s action over the past few years to expand late-term abortions in our state and undermine parental consent (the so-called ‘Roe Act’),” Diehl had responded. “I choose to protect life whenever possible. I also do not support spending taxpayer funds on abortions.”

Healey, responding to the same MassLive question, lauded Massachusetts’ leadership in safeguarding reproductive health care — including for providers and patients — as abortions are banned elsewhere across the country and states threaten to infringe on others’ jurisdictions amid a complex array of fractured laws.

“As a beacon for health care, Massachusetts must do everything it can to protect patients and providers in a post-Roe world — especially against the reach of hostile states rolling back basic human rights,” Healey had responded. “We will ensure that no Massachusetts provider can be criminally prosecuted for offering basic abortion care. And we will make sure women who need access to care are able to get it.”

Rebecca Hart Holder, executive director of Reproductive Equity Now, warned that a Trump-backed governor besting Healey would be particularly perilous should momentum build for a nationwide abortion ban.

“This year, across the country, reproductive freedom is on the ballot and Massachusetts is no exception,” Hart Holder said in a statement Thursday. “The next governor will be tasked with implementing critical protections for providers and patients, as well as ensuring that fake abortion clinics are not permitted to deceive patients from obtaining lifesaving abortion care. We need a leader who is committed to expanding access to reproductive health care, not a governor who would go against the will of the people to restrict abortion in our commonwealth.”

Abortion access forged a critical talking point Wednesday, as Healey and her lieutenant governor running mate, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll, toured Worcester small businesses as their first public appearance as an all-female ticket.

Unlike Diehl, Healey said she and Driscoll support a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body. Diehl would undermine that view if he perpetuates Trumpism in the commonwealth and again votes for the former president in 2024, Driscoll said.

“He and his anti-abortion, against reproductive health services approach is not what we need here,” Driscoll said.