The House votes today to make Massachusetts' abortion law one of the broadest in the country.

Lawmakers are expected to pass a bill this afternoon that strips away the state's existing four-part test for late-term abortions — the one that currently requires doctors to show a pregnancy termination after 24 weeks is necessary to save the patient's life or in similarly narrow circumstances. In its place: a single standard, "the professional judgment of a physician." Full stop.

This isn't a minor tweak. It cleared House Ways and Means on a 23-6 vote Tuesday, with Speaker Ron Mariano and Ways and Means Chair Aaron Michlewitz framing it as taking the Legislature out of exam-room decisions entirely. Somerville Rep. Christine Barber, the bill's sponsor, says she was moved by stories of Massachusetts patients forced to travel out of state — burning savings, losing support networks — for care that current law makes too legally fraught for local doctors to provide. Six Republicans voted no in committee, and expect a similar, mostly party-line split on the floor today, the final formal session day of the year.

The politics here are notable: Massachusetts already has some of the country's most permissive abortion laws, and this bill would push it further than nearly any other state, at a moment when the national landscape has gone the opposite direction since Dobbs. If Governor Healey signs it, as expected, it becomes another marker in the blue-state strategy of building a legal buffer against future federal restrictions — and near-certain fodder for the fall campaign trail regardless of what happens in Washington.

Full story at Boston Globe →

Nine ballot questions. A state record tied. Secretary of State Bill Galvin's office finalized the order Tuesday after a last-minute challenge to the marijuana repeal question (now officially Question 8) failed. Voters will also decide on public records reform, ending party primaries, Election Day registration, and a fight over the Chapter 62F tax rebate law — expect two- to three-page ballots in most towns. WBUR →

Senate Democrats are quietly trying to kill a tax rebate question before voters ever see it. An amendment from Winchester's Sen. Jason Lewis to repeal Chapter 62F — the law that triggered $3 billion in taxpayer rebates in 2022 — already has 19 cosponsors, enough for a majority. If it passes this week, it would gut a ballot question already headed to November voters, drawing fury from anti-tax groups who say Beacon Hill is trying to preempt the electorate. CommonWealth Beacon →

The Senate also wants to end single-family zoning as we know it. Buried in a $325 million economic development bill: a provision letting duplexes be built by-right almost everywhere in Massachusetts. Right now 96% of residential land allows single-family homes by right, but only 38% allows duplexes. Sen. Julian Cyr calls it "unlocking a huge amount of capacity" for housing; towns would keep control over design and height. WBZ/CBS Boston →

Boston University will pay the city $104 million over five years — the largest PILOT deal in Boston history and BU's first written agreement with the city in over 25 years. Annual cash payments jump from $6.3 million to $8.3 million, plus $66.8 million in community benefits, as Mayor Michelle Wu keeps leaning on institutions to fill budget gaps property taxes can't. WBUR →

A bullet tore through a Brockton Catholic Charities office Tuesday afternoon, passing clean through an exterior wall and into a staffed office before hitting an interior door. Nobody was hurt, police say the building wasn't the target, and no suspects have been named — but staff at the food pantry and elder-outreach center are, understandably, shaken. Boston Globe →

A homicide investigation shut down Green Line service at Boylston and Tremont early Wednesday morning after police found a man with severe "trauma to his body" near the T stop around 5:15 a.m. Eastbound trains are skipping the Boylston stop as detectives work the scene — on top of the Red Line's ongoing 10-day shutdown between Alewife and Park Street. Rough week to be a T rider. WBZ/CBS Boston →

• The House votes today on the late-term abortion bill in what's expected to be the final formal session of the year — worth watching for the roll call and any floor amendments. CommonWealth Beacon →
• Jury selection resumes today in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial in Plymouth Superior Court — 12 of 18 jurors seated so far, with an insanity defense expected to be the central fight. Boston Globe →
• The Senate's primary-care bill faces a July 31 deadline in the House — it aims to address a shortage so severe that 30% of Massachusetts residents report trouble finding a doctor. WBUR →

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Yesterday's Biggest Contributions

Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

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Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

PACs

• Boston Leads Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee — N/A, No office — Filed: 7/16/2026

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