BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts lawmakers appear to be moving closer to repealing some antiquated abortion laws as a hedge against possible future rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday is expected to send the repeal measure to the full House for a potential vote Wednesday. The Senate approved a nearly identical version of the so-called NASTY bill - short for Negating Archaic Statutes Targeting Young Women - in January.
The statutes include a 19th-century ban on abortion and prohibitions on contraception for unmarried women. They were largely rendered moot by a 1981 state court ruling protecting access to abortion.
Legislative leaders, however, want them off the books entirely as a precaution should a more conservative Supreme Court move to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling.
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