CORRECTION (noon Saturday, December 18, 2021): A previously published version of this story stated that Ken Sweezey, a Republican candidate for state representative, supports legal abortion. After the story was published, Mr. Sweezey contacted NewBostonPost to say that that description was inaccurate. On Saturday, asked by telephone by an editor what his position on abortion is, Mr. Sweezey responded: "I accept that Roe v. Wade is precedent. It's the law of the land. Abortion is not a focal point of my campaign. I believe that there are more pressing issues in my district. My campaign is focused mainly on economic issues post-pandemic."
Abortions dropped by more than 11 percent in 2020 over the previous year, newly obtained figures show.
NewBostonPost filed a public records request to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to see how many abortions took place in the Commonwealth in 2019 and 2020. While there were 18,593 abortions in the Commonwealth in 2019, there were 16,452 in 2020 — a reduction of about 11.5 percent.
