Massachusetts just scrubbed state law of the 24-week gestational boundary for abortions and the "exceptional circumstances" test that previously governed later-term procedures.

Why it matters: It's the state's latest move to shore up access to abortion in the post-Roe v. Wade era and it comes just as Gov. Maura Healey needs to rally Democrats to assure her reelection this fall.

• Politically, it's another win for pro-choice advocates who have been working for decades on a long list of legislative goals.

Catch up quick: The new law, signed Monday in Healey's office, rewrites the state's abortion statute to remove gestational time limits and hand physicians — not hospitals — final say on late-term care.

• It also ends the requirement that those procedures happen in a hospital.

Between the lines: Abortion bills can be a knock-down-drag-out fight on Beacon Hill, between pro-choice progressives and middle-of-the-road Democrats who'd rather not have to vote on contentious social issues.

Yes, but: Compared to other abortion access bills, this one practically sailed over the finish line once backers got the legal language down.

What gives: The political climate around abortion has shifted massively in Massachusetts over the last five years.

• Democratic voters want laws to protect access in the face of federal restrictions, so Democratic lawmakers are finding it much easier to take votes they would have avoided a decade ago.

What they're saying: Rep. Marjorie Decker, a longtime abortion rights advocate, rejected the idea that the bill reflects a shift, framing it instead as one more piece of protective legislation dating back to 2016.

• "I think that we have, since Trump's first election, been consistently finding ways to create a firewall to protect people in Massachusetts," she told Axios after Healey signed the law.

Of note: Having a Democrat like Healey in the Corner Office makes a difference.

• Former Gov. Charlie Baker, while mostly pro-choice, drew the line at most later-term abortions and limiting parental consent.
• Not that a veto would have mattered. The 119-to-33 vote saw only nine Democrats vote against the bill. Anti-abortion Dems are a dwindling presence in the House chamber.

State of play: Lawmakers and advocates describe the bill less as a sudden move and more as the product of a long, incremental process.

• House Judiciary Chair Mike Day pointed to four rounds of revisiting reproductive law over 16 years, with the language governing late-term exceptions evolving through terms like "fatal," "grave" and "serious" before landing on physician judgment.

The other side: Opponents, including the Catholic Action League, have condemned the law in sharply critical terms.

• Every Republican in the House but one voted against the bill.

The big picture: The law is the latest step in Massachusetts' trajectory from restriction to expansion that can be traced back to a 1974 parental consent law.

• In the 2020s, Massachusetts pushed through the 2020 ROE Act (over a Baker veto) and the 2022 Shield Law protecting providers from out-of-state legal action.

Read on: What Healey's GOP rivals are saying

🚶 Downtown Boston pedestrian traffic climbed roughly 10.5% between July 2025 and July 2026, with the Downtown Boston Alliance counting about 3 million visitors last month versus 2.7 million a year earlier. (BBJ)

🎓 Harvard picked up new allies in its court fight to keep federal funding, including Columbia and Cornell, a dozen additional former federal officials from both parties, and 13 more universities. (The Harvard Crimson)

• Several groups that backed Harvard last year, including FIRE and multiple Jewish and Middle East studies organizations, didn't return this round, while Hillel International briefly filed and then withdrew its own brief.

⚾ The Red Sox were awarded a bizarre seventh-inning run in Toronto after Anthony Seigler scored from third without tagging up on what both benches initially thought was a game-ending double play. (Boston Herald)

• The Sox still lost the game 2-1.

🚴 Boston's Public Improvements Commission is poised to cancel privately funded safety upgrades — including a protected bike lane and wider sidewalks — for a stretch of Bennington Street in East Boston in favor of more on-street parking. (StreetsblogMASS)

• The commission had previously approved the bike lane plan in 2023.

🏢 Wentworth Institute of Technology is partnering with Balfour Beatty Campus Solutions on a $200-million, 18-story first-year residence hall that will house 972 students in Boston. (Boston Real Estate Times)

• It's the largest capital project in the university's history.

🎸 Developers proposed replacing the former Squid Hell recording studio in Jamaica Plain with a five-story, 28-unit apartment building near Forest Hills, with no parking spaces planned. (Universal Hub)

Move over Tiki bar booze cruises, there's a new stupidest way to enjoy Boston Harbor: from inside a hot tub.

• Boston Hot Tub Boats launched two weeks ago out of Atlantis Marina in Winthrop.
• They offer wood-fired hot tub cruises that top out around three miles per hour on the calm waters north of Logan Airport.

Why it matters: "Matters" might be a stretch, but it's a novel entrant in the city's crowded field of harbor tours and boat rentals.

• They think a slower, more social experience can draw customers away from typical sightseeing cruises.

How it works: Each tub seats up to six people, is drained and refilled between rides and comes with Bluetooth speakers and waterproof phone cases for guests.

• Founder Marie Bocquet brought the concept to Boston after seeing it in Denmark and pitched it as a natural fit for a city built around the water.

By the numbers: Two-hour rentals start at $493.

What's next: Early riders say they're already planning repeat trips.

• One customer told CBS News Boston she wants to come back in winter to try it year-round.