BOSTON – More than 50 Bay State residents, all with passionately held pro-family views, rallied in the State House Wednesday and fanned out to lobby lawmakers on bills that could affect public funding for abortion providers, the future of sex education, and personal privacy while expanding access for transgender persons to public bathrooms and school locker rooms.
The Massachusetts Family Institute and its president, Andrew Beckwith, led the day of advocacy among members of the House of Representatives and Senate. Topping the activists' list of legislation was a proposal introduced last month by state Rep. James Lyons (R-Andover) demanding an end to the practice of steering taxpayer money to a leading abortion provider, Planned Parenthood.
BOSTON – While Gov. Charlie Baker this week repeatedly cited a daily death toll from the opioid epidemic, Speaker Robert DeLeo, the leader of the state House of Representatives, said he couldn't ensure that a measure to help contain it would be completed any time soon.
The state Senate and House have both passed varying bills intended to reduce the abuse of prescription painkillers and a closed-door conference committee began negotiations on Jan. 20. Baker, who worked with other governors on the issue in Washington over the past weekend, has said he's optimistic that a compromise could be reached within a couple of weeks, but DeLeo would not commit to that timeframe.
