BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Mayor Marty Walsh stood alongside several mayors and advocates at the State House Tuesday on behalf of a bill that will protect an individual's right to choose.
The Commonwealth mayors were showing support for the ROE Act and that the state of Massachusetts will not interfere with a person's decision to terminate their pregnancy.
Mayor Walsh says he is worried about the alternatives when access to abortion is taken away.
"In the case of those states were women's rights are overturned, my concern is women that are going to do procedures that are dangerous," Walsh said. "Not by medical doctors, putting the families at risk, women at risk. That's what I think is the biggest, the most controversial piece of what's happening here today in this country."
Walsh says taking away the option is uncharacteristic of this country.
"They used to say this [is] pushing women back into the back alleys for back alley abortions. That should not be happening in America," Walsh said. "At the end of the day, you know, it comes down to a woman's right, an individual person's right. So whatever decision they make, we should be working to support that person."
Mayor Walsh was joined by Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera, Cambridge Mayor Marc McGovern, Framingham Mayor Yvonne Spicer, Easthampton Mayor Nicole LaChapelle, and Newburyport Mayor Donna Holaday.
Spicer says Massachusetts has always stood by its residents—including women.
"Women of color who have long lost the opportunities to be able to have affordable, quality healthcare, and these are the women who will probably suffer if this does not move forward," Spicer said.
LaChapelle says the act goes beyond abortion, covering issues of healthcare and ensuring women can make informed decisions.
"Clinics that provide this advice and services are important to a woman's emotional, economic, and basic dignity and rights," LaChapelle said. "This is not just about one healthcare choice, this is about something, a choice that a woman deserves that will affect the rest of her life if denied."
WBZ NewsRadio's Chris Fama (@CFamaWBZ) reports
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