In Massachusetts governor’s race, it’s the economy, stupid. For Healey, it’s abortion, too. – The Boston Globe

In a Globe interview, the first-term Democrat said preserving access to abortion is not just a social issue, but also an economic one, a framing that appears intended to tap into residents’ deep-seated concerns about being able to afford to live in a state that’s simultaneously emerged as a major national provider of abortion care.

“Make no mistake about it, abortion is economic, and the ability to access abortion care or not has real consequences for women across this country,” she said. “It has consequences in terms of their health — sometimes consequences are life or death — and it does have economic consequences.”

Healey is facing pressure to find ways to help ease Massachusetts’ high costs. Residents are leaving the state, some in search of lower-cost locales; energy bills are reaching new highs; homeownership is out of reach for many; and child care costs here are among the nation’s highest.

“Lowering costs should be the focus of every elected official in America,” Healey said during her State of the Commonwealth address in January. “It’s certainly mine.”

Scott Ferson, a Massachusetts-based Democratic political strategist, said Healey is “most comfortable” discussing protections for reproductive health care because of her background as a former attorney general who sued the Trump administration over access.

“There’s enough crises here to occupy voters’ . . . time,” Ferson said of fears over both abortion access and the economy. “And so she’s right to talk about both.”

Healey has long argued for increased access to abortion.

The state stockpiled 15,000 doses of mifepristone in 2023 amid an early legal challenge to the drug, and Healey issued an executive order in 2024 confirming access to emergency abortion care in the state. Last year, she signed a bill that bolstered protections for doctors providing reproductive health care from legal repercussions in other states.

Jane Rayburn, a Massachusetts-based pollster who has worked with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Maine US Senate candidate Graham Platner, agreed that access to abortion has economic consequences, as people consider whether they can afford to have a child.

“Restricting economic freedom, removing folks’ autonomy from making these choices on how they build their family and their family’s future, cuts right at the heart of the cost of living and affordability issues that we’re all experiencing firsthand,” Rayburn said.

Healey has tried to bring her work on reproductive rights into sharper focus this year as two Republicans battle each other for their party’s nomination.

Brian Shortsleeve, who led the MBTA under former governor Charlie Baker, said he supports the US Supreme Court’s decision to maintain, at least temporarily, access to mifepristone through the mail. He also said he supports abortion rights, including the state’s “current law as it is.”

“I wouldn’t change it,” he said.

Mike Minogue, who won the Mass. GOP’s gubernatorial endorsement last month, has described himself as a “pro-life” Catholic.

He runs a nearly $23 million family foundation with his wife, Renee Minogue, that has donated to groups that have touted pro-life stances, including $8,000 between 2018 and 2024 to Prager University, a conservative media organization whose founder, Dennis Prager, has said most abortions are not moral.

The foundation also gave $5,000 in 2015 to the Massachusetts Family Institute, an antiabortion “pro-family” advocacy group, and $55,000 between 2023 and 2024 to Taylor University, an Indiana-based Christian institution that promotes a “sanctity of life statement.”

Minogue did not respond to questions about the donations, but said Healey ”and the liberal media will try to weaponize” abortion politics.

“I cannot change the Massachusetts abortion law. Politicians approach this issue to drive hate and divisiveness,” he said in a statement to the Globe. “As a leader with faith, I have compassion and will support women with counseling, financial aid, and medical care.”

Healey cast both Republicans as threats to access here, arguing that neither will proactively stand up for reproductive rights.

“I’m going to be there to protect abortion access, and my opponents are not, and that’s demonstrated by their actions, their words, their records,” she said.

Healey’s campaign has capitalized on the abortion-related court rulings in fund-raising emails, casting a federal appeals court decision restricting medication abortion by mail as “dangerous.” (The US Supreme Court later issued a ruling preserving access to the drug.)

The Massachusetts Democratic Party has also targeted Minogue directly, dubbing him “Anti-Abortion Mike Minogue” because of his “pro-life” beliefs.

Claire Teylouni, interim executive director of Reproductive Equity Now, an abortion rights group, said voters have a lot on their minds this election cycle and accused the Trump administration of “creating chaos and uncertainty” on a range of issues, including reproductive rights.

“It might not be that abortion is the only issue shaping this race,” she said, “but we do really believe it will be a significant one.”

Voters, too, say that the Massachusetts economy is a top issue, and likely Democratic voters said cost of living should be Healey’s top focus, according to an April Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll.

But they also have mounting concerns about the future of abortion access. A UMass Amherst/WCVB survey from 2025 found a decrease in the number of people – from 70 percent in October 2024 to 62 percent in February 2025 – who believed abortion would remain “safe, legal, and accessible” in Massachusetts following the US Supreme Court’s decision to end the constitutional right to an abortion in 2022 by overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling.

Erin O’Brien, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston, said abortion, at the very least, is a good “wedge issue” for Healey. But she said the gubernatorial race will largely focus on affordability.

“Having [abortion] there helps her for turnout,” O’Brien said, “and to prevent people from going to the GOP.”

Chris Van Buskirk can be reached at chris.vanb@globe.com. Follow him on X @byChrisVan