Massachusetts Governor Healey Should Be Excommunicated for Signing Late-Term Abortion Law
Source: Beverly Willett. "Catholic Church Must Excommunicate Gov. Who Signed Abortion Law." August 20, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that because Governor Healey signed a law allowing abortions right up until birth, and because the Catholic Church considers abortion a grave sin punishable by excommunication, she should be excommunicated. The piece uses her Catholic identity and the extreme language of the law to argue that Church leaders have both the duty and the precedent to take this drastic step.
Conclusion
The Catholic Church should excommunicate Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey for signing a law permitting late-term abortions.
Premises
- The Catholic Church's Catechism unequivocally teaches that abortion is a grave moral evil and has consistently done so since the first century.
- Canon law prescribes excommunication as the penalty for 'formal cooperation' in procuring an abortion.
- Healey is a baptized, professing Catholic who has publicly affirmed her Catholic identity.
- Healey signed a law that permits physicians, at their sole discretion, to perform abortions up until birth for reasons as broad as the mother's 'feelings,' removing meaningful restraints present in the prior law.
- By signing this law, Healey has facilitated abortion on a mass scale, constituting formal cooperation in grave sin comparable to or exceeding that of an individual procuring an abortion.
- Church precedent exists for denying communion or sanctioning Catholic politicians who publicly support abortion rights (e.g., Archbishop Cordileone barring Nancy Pelosi from communion).
- Failing to excommunicate Healey risks causing scandal and confusion among Catholics about the Church's clear teaching on the sanctity of life, especially given that 56% of Catholics now support legal abortion.
Assumptions
- Signing legislation that permits abortion is equivalent, morally and canonically, to 'formal cooperation' in procuring an abortion as defined by canon law.
- The Church has both the authority and the obligation to impose excommunication on public officials for their legislative/political acts, not just personal moral choices.
- Public political action should be subject to the same sacramental discipline as private sin.
- Excommunication would meaningfully correct the governor's behavior or protect the faith's integrity, rather than simply alienating her further.
- The described law is accurately characterized as having 'total lack of restraints,' with no legitimate medical justification ever applying.
- Local bishops share the author's assessment that this situation meets the threshold for either automatic or judicial excommunication.