Lawmakers in the Massachusetts House passed a bill Wednesday that will loosen one of the state's current abortion laws by allowing abortion after 24 weeks when approved by a doctor.

Key Takeaways:

• Bill H.5595 passed the Massachusetts House this week, seeking to remove current restrictions limiting abortion after 24 weeks, effectively allowing abortion up to birth for any reason.

• The legislation next heads to the state Senate, where it has until the session's ending date of July 31 to pass.

The Details:

Bill H.5595 passed the House with a 119-33 vote. Though current state law does allow abortions after 24 weeks to protect the mother's physical or mental health, or in cases of a fetal diagnosis, this legislation would allow abortions for any reason at any stage, provided a doctor approves.

"We've decided to get away from all the exceptions and trust our medical professionals, who are the best in the world, to make those decisions with the informed consent of the patient," said Rep. Michael Day.

Those in support of the bill say it is necessary because so many women are traveling out of state for "medically appropriate care."

“Patients have to leave to other states, leave their support network, and pay out of pocket,” State Rep. Christine Barber (D) told The Boston Globe. “You should be able to get care that your doctors are recommending here in Massachusetts.”

“Massachusetts has one of the best health care systems in the country, and patients should be able to rely on their providers to deliver medically appropriate care without restrictions that can fail to account for the complexity of individual medical circumstances,” added state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa (D), the bill’s co-sponsor.

The legislation next heads to the state Senate, where it has until the session's ending date of July 31 to pass.

What We're Hearing:

Several health care systems in the state, including Mass General Brigham, Tufts Medicine, Beth Israel Lahey Health, UMass Memorial Health, and the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association, sent a letter to House Speaker Ron Mariano in support of the bill.

“The legislation would remove arbitrary restrictions on abortion care after 24 weeks of pregnancy and instead empower physicians to use their professional judgment and clinical expertise to make decisions in the best interest of their patients,” the health care groups wrote.

Massachusetts Citizens for Life President Myrna Maloney Flynn noted in a press release:

The good intentions of this bill's sponsors are gravely misplaced.

As written, their abortion-up-to-birth bill permits one physician to subjectively decide that any unborn infant can be killed in or outside of a hospital, even babies capable of surviving outside the womb and feeling pain within it. Women experiencing unimaginable, heart wrenching pregnancy complications absolutely deserve all the support they need, but that support is not what this bill provides.

Instead, this bill ensures increased abortion industry profits and taxpayer-funded late-term procedures. The legislation promises that an already ominous shadow will grow even darker over the state of Massachusetts.

"It's a very sad day in the commonwealth of Massachusetts. The precedent that we're setting is that a mother can get an abortion up until the moment of birth for a healthy, viable baby," said Rep. Alyson Sullivan-Almeida (R).

Zoom In:

Those in support of the bill repeatedly referred to late-term abortions as necessary health care, but the direct and intentional ending of a born or preborn child's life is not necessary, not even in cases of prenatal diagnosis.

At 24 weeks, there is a chance that the child could survive outside the womb if given proper health care. Even if the mother's life or health is at risk, intentionally causing the death of the child is not necessary. Instead, the child could be delivered early and given proper treatment.

Though there is a chance that the baby might still die, this would not be considered an abortion, as the intent of the delivery was to save the mother as well as the child. Children born as young as 21 weeks have survived when given medical care.