Massachusetts Now Protects Abortion Throughout Pregnancy

August 17, 2026:

Massachusetts Now Protects Abortion Throughout Pregnancy

Plus, how reproductive rights are factoring into the midterms and President Trump deals the childhood vaccine schedule another blow.

Photograph of protesters outside of the U.S. Supreme Court. One sign reads "Abortion is a personal, not a legal debate."

Each week, Rewire News Group editors scour headlines nationwide—from lawsuits over abortion access to LGBTQ+ rights—to bring you the most urgent news in reproductive justice. Here’s what you need to know from the past week’s biggest stories.

Ten states now allow abortion at any time

On Aug. 10, Massachusetts enacted a law protecting abortion throughout pregnancy, joining nine other states and Washington, D.C. Per KFF, just 1% of abortions occur at or after 21 weeks, usually in cases of fatal fetal anomalies or if the pregnancy threatens the pregnant person’s health. The new law ensures care is “unencumbered by a legal framework that … isn’t always capable of accounting for the complexity and uncertainty inherent to pregnancy-related health care,” State House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano said.

Wisconsin primaries center abortion

Of the four states that held Democratic primary votes last Tuesday, Wisconsin has the strictest abortion laws. Milwaukee County Exec. David Crowley, who narrowly beat democratic socialist Francesca Hong, has said “safe, legal abortion is essential health care” but made no pledge to repeal Wisconsin’s 20-week ban if he becomes governor. Voters hoping to flip Wisconsin’s 1st House district picked ER nurse Mitchell Berman, whose campaign highlighted reproductive rights. Vermont, Connecticut, and Minnesota also had Democratic primaries.

Trump targets childhood vaccine schedule

President Donald Trump signed an executive order last week further upending childhood vaccines—just as families are gearing up for school. It calls for shots to be more spaced out and demands the MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine be split into three separate shots, among other requirements. The order is “not based on ‘gold-standard science,’” the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics said last Monday, and sows “confusion so that more people doubt the importance of vaccines.”

This news roundup is adapted from our newsletter, Rewire Weekly. Sign up here to get the latest reproductive rights news, expert analysis, and a peek into the RNG newsroom—fresh to your inbox.

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