PETITION OF:

Ellen Story

Harriette L. Chandler

Barbara A. L'Italien

Matthew C. Patrick

Edward M. Augustus, Jr.

David Paul Linsky

Alice K. Wolf

Gale D. Candaras

John W. Scibak

Denise Provost

Tom Sannicandro

Susan C. Fargo

Pam Richardson

John D. Keenan

Ruth B. Balser

Mark V. Falzone

Stephen Kulik

Kay Khan

William N. Brownsberger

James E. Timilty

Steven J. D'Amico

Mary E. Grant

Douglas W. Petersen

Louis L. Kafka

Sarah K. Peake

Martha M. Walz

Gloria L. Fox

Patricia D. Jehlen

Peter V. Kocot

Michael E. Festa

Carl M. Sciortino, Jr.

Christine E. Canavan

Jay R. Kaufman

Elizabeth A. Malia

Frank I. Smizik

Alice Hanlon Peisch

Byron Rushing

Michael J. Moran

Anne M. Gobi

Thomas P. Conroy

——————

In the Year Two Thousand and Seven.

——————

An Act relative to public health.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. The Legislature finds that it is the public policy of the commonwealth to provide its citizens with laws that protect the public health and are constitutional and enforceable under the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights.

The Legislature finds that a near-total ban on abortion, enacted in 1845, and other currently unenforceable restrictions on a woman’s right to access to reproductive health care are unconstitutional under the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. The Legislature further finds that these laws, if enforced, would pose a great threat to the public health.

The Legislature finds that the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights protects the right to reproductive choice as a fundamental right and to a greater extent than the federal Constitution. The Legislature finds that the commonwealth has a proud history of enacting laws and policies that protect women’s health and allow for the protection of individual rights enumerated in the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. Existing laws of the commonwealth that do not comport with the Declaration of Rights and that do not serve the public interest must be repealed.

SECTION 2. Section 12Q of chapter 112 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out the first paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph: -

Except in an emergency requiring immediate action, no abortion may be performed under section 12L or 12M unless the written consent of the proper person has been delivered to the physician performing the abortion as set forth in section 12S.

SECTION 3. Section 19 of chapter 272 of the General Laws is hereby repealed.

SECTION 4. Section 20 of said chapter 272 is hereby repealed.

SECTION 5. Section 21 of said chapter 272 is hereby repealed.

SECTION 6. Section 21A of chapter 272 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out in lines 2, 5, and 8 the word “married”.