The Massachusetts legislature passed a bill that would remove “outdated and offensive language” used to describe people with disabilities in the state’s General Laws.

The measure would eliminate various terms, including “handicapped,” “disabled,” and the “r-word” in favor of language such as “persons with a disability” and “person with an intellectual or developmental disability.”

The bill, which was introduced by Democratic state Sen. Pat Jehlen and listed with 17 petitioners, now heads to Democrat Gov. Maura Healey’s desk.

The 61-page bill updates 346 sections of Massachusetts law.

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“Language is constantly changing. And it’s changing because of the activism of people who were ignored and demeaned for too long,” Democrat state Sen. Pat Jehlen, the Senate’s primary sponsor of the legislation, said in a statement. “When people tell us they feel insulted and offended by the use of outdated words, we worked to change the legal language.  It took a long time, because we kept finding more examples of offensive language. Language and activism will continue to evolve, and there’ll always be more work to do, but this is a gigantic step forward in respect.”

Some of the updated language featured in the bill includes replacing “disabled person” with “person with a disability,” “handicapped” with “disability” and “retarded” with phrases such as “person with an intellectual or developmental disability.”

The legislation also scraps terms such as “crippled” and “deformed” when referring to people with disabilities.

The term “hearing-impaired” was revised to “deaf or hard of hearing” and the “chronically ill” was changed to “persons who are chronically ill.”

Additionally, the bill amends specific legal definitions, including changing the current definition of “caretaker” — which describes an individual or entity responsible for a “disabled person” — to instead use the phrase “a person with a disability.”

 “When dusty and dangerous relics of a bygone era darken our laws, it creates the potential for real harm to residents today,” Senate President Karen Spilka, a Democrat, said in a statement. “Thanks to the voices of advocates like former Senate staff member Melissa Reilly and the leadership of Senator Jehlen and Senator Kennedy, the Legislature has acted to make our laws better represent who we are in 21st-century Massachusetts.”

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“With a White House that glorifies, and seemingly longs for, the days when many Americans were discriminated against because of who they are, now is the time to make sure our state laws respect and support the rights and dignity of our residents,” she added.

The passage of this measure comes after a 2024 law that renamed the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission to MassAbility, which state officials argued was a display of a broader effort to modernize disability services and promote inclusion. That law also reflected a broader move away from terms state officials described as outdated or offensive.

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“As lawmakers, we know that words matter,” said state Speaker of the House Ronald J. Mariano, a Democrat. “This legislation is our latest effort to ensure that our state laws do not use antiquated words that carry negative connotations, words that also serve as a reminder of past injustices.”

The bill passed with broad legislative support, including unanimous recorded votes in both chambers.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Massachusetts GOP for comment.

PORTLAND, Maine — Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner used a profane insult against Sen. John Fetterman during a Sunday town hall in southern Maine, escalating his feud with the Pennsylvania Democrat just two days before Maine’s Senate primary.

The Senate really is a place of, it’s a lot about relationships, and I I don’t want to go down there and simply be nonfunctional,” Platner said in response to a question from a supporter about who he is looking forward to working with in Washington, D.C., if elected in November.

“I mean, as you can all probably tell, we got a lot of criticisms about the way this government functions. But in order for us to make it functional, we’re going to have to do stuff. And you can’t just go down there and be John Fetterman and just and just kind of just sort of be an a–hole.”

Platner added, “He’s said mean things about me, I’m allowed to say that.”

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Platner and Fetterman have been going after each other in recent days with the Pennsylvania Democratic senator calling out the Maine progressive over his history of inflammatory remarks while challenging him to release messages linked to a Kik account that has become a flashpoint in his campaign. 

“This is a guy that had a problem with me, how I dress, but he seemed to have no problem posing in a towel at a disgusting website that consistently had serious problems about that kinds of depravity,” Fetterman, who has faced strong criticism from within his own party over his strident support for Israel, told Fox News host Sean Hannity.

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The Democrat later challenged Platner to make public messages he allegedly exchanged with women on the platform.

“Let me make a deal. I’ll tell P-Hustle, I’ll wear a suit every day, if he releases all those texts and messages that he’s had… [with] the dozen women,” he continued, referencing Platner’s username on the platform.

Over the weekend, Platner posted on X that “John Fetterman seems to genuinely think that the reason no one likes him is because he refuses to wear a suit.”

“It’s not the hoodie, dude. It’s because you’ve become a stooge for AIPAC and the Republican Party.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Fetterman’s office for comment.

Platner was not asked by the audience, nor did he bring up on his own, the various criticisms he has faced in recent months ranging from a Nazi tattoo, to deleted Reddit posts trashing the military, to sexual messages sent to other women during his marriage, to an explosive New York Times report where an accuser alleged that Platner exhibited “toxic” traits and was physically abusive toward her.

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“I am very much just some random guy from Sullivan, Maine,” Platner told the raucous crowd of supporters shortly before receiving a standing ovation for claiming in November “we are going to beat Susan Collins.”

Platner’s message to voters focused strongly on wealth inequality and painted a picture of a Congress that is beholden to the powerful as opposed to the voters. 

“We must understand that we have entered a new phase in the American political story,” Platner said. “We have entered an era that I think looks a lot more like the 1880s or the 1930s or the 1960s than the last 40 years. We have entered an age of a politics of power, and we need to start acting like it.”

Platner, widely believed to be the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate, heads into a Tuesday night primary election where Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and former senior government official David Costello are on the ballot.

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If victorious, Platner will square off against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.

Fox News Digital’s Taylor Penley contributed to this report.

BEIRUT — Israel and Iran suspended military attacks on each other on Monday, heeding President Trump’s call to end a flare-up that threatened derail a brittle two-month ceasefire and engulf the Middle East in all-out conflict once again.

Iran’s military said in a statement on Iranian state media that it had “delivered a painful response” to Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.

“Accordingly, the operations of the armed forces are hereby halted,” the statement said. But it added that “if the aggressions and evils continue, including in southern Lebanon, much more severe and crushing measures will be on the way.”

Israel too signaled it would cease attacks on Iran, according to an unnamed Israeli official quoted in Israeli media, who said the decision came at the behest of Trump. Still, the official said Israel would continue fighting in south Lebanon.

The tit-for-tat attacks, which involved at least 30 ballistic missiles launched on Israel and dozens of Israeli airstrikes on Iran, threatened to widen the scope of a conflict that has already killed and wounded thousands, displaced more than a million people and rattled economies across the globe.

“Israel and Iran must immediately stop ‘shooting.’ ” wrote Trump early Monday on his social media platform, Truth Social.

Later, he wrote, “Both sides, Israel and Iran, are looking to do an immediate CEASEFIRE!”

“Final negotiations on ‘Peace’ are proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way. The Blockade will remain in place, and in full force and effect, until a ‘Final Deal’ is reached. Things should move quickly.”

Yet it appears likely Iran and Israel will again be on a collision course over Lebanon.

Later on Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement the Israeli military will continue attacking in Lebanon, including Beirut, if Hezbollah, an Iran-supported paramilitary faction and political party, attacked northern Israel.

Over the last two months of the ceasefire, Trump repeatedly claimed he was on the verge of signing a deal with Iran, despite repeated confrontations that underscored the fragility of the truce.

The latest escalation came after Israel attacked the suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut on Sunday in what it said was a targeted strike against Hezbollah.

In recent days, Iran conditioned a ceasefire agreement with Israel and the U.S. on a cessation of hostilities across all fronts, including Lebanon, threatening it would respond to any Israeli action on the Lebanese capital. Israel rejects linking both battlefields, and insists on having a free hand to attack Hezbollah.

A number of U.S.-brokered ceasefires between the Lebanese and Israeli governments — but without Hezbollah involvement — failed to stop most of the fighting, with Israeli warplanes pounding wide swaths of Lebanon’s south while Hezbollah launched drones and missiles on northern Israel. Nevertheless, the Lebanese government has rejected being included in Iran’s negotiations with the U.S.

By Sunday night, Iran’s threats came to pass with several waves of Iranian ballistic missiles, which caused no injuries and were the first Tehran had fired at Israel since a ceasefire took hold in April. Iran’s military said the fusillade was a warning. But Israel said it would retaliate.

Trump initially downplayed the Iranian attack on Sunday, saying in an interview with the Financial Times that Iran’s barrage was “not going to have any impact on the deal” and telling the Axios news site that he would talk to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to halt any Israeli response.

“He won’t have any choice,” Trump said in a phone interview with the Financial Times, referring to Netanyahu having to accept any deal the U.S. negotiates with Iran.

“I call the shots. I call all the shots. He doesn’t call the shots,” Trump said.

Yet by the early morning on Monday, dozens of Israeli warplanes were striking western and central Iran. They hit a petrochemical complex in Mahshahr in southwestern Iran, and waged extensive strikes on “strategic defense systems,” according to Israeli military statements, in what observers said was a prelude to a wider offensive. Residents in Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz and Shiraz reported powerful explosions.

The Israeli military said in a statement it expected several days of fighting with Iran but was prepared for a prolonged campaign. It said the strikes on Iran were conducted by Israel on its own, but that they had been done in “full coordination” with U.S. Central Command, which also helped in intercepting Iranian missiles launched at Israel.

But that distinction appeared to matter little to Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, who said in a press conference on Monday that the U.S held direct responsibility for recent ceasefire violations and Israel’s action “cannot be looked at in isolation from the U.S.”

“No one believes the Israeli regime would take any action without coordination with the United States,” he said.

“The U.S. bears responsibility for the Israeli regime’s aggression, and it will also be responsible for the consequences of any escalation in tensions.”

Iran launched additional barrages throughout Monday, targeting Israeli airbases in Nevatim and Tel Nof and a petrochemical plant in Haifa, according to a statement from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. It added Israel was engaging in “a dangerous game by targeting civilian and oil infrastructure — a game that will now encompass all regional energy targets, with global economic consequences resting on America.”

The renewed hostilities also saw Yemen’s Houthis — who receive support from Iran and Hezbollah, and are part of a regional network of Iran-backed factions called the “Axis of Resistance” — enter the fray with a pair of ballistic missiles lobbed at Israel. The Israeli military said one of the missiles was intercepted; the second fell short of Israel.

Houthi spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Sarea confirmed the attack in a televised statement on Monday, and said Israeli maritime navigation in the Red Sea would be targeted.

During the Gaza war, the Houthis attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea — including ships with no link to Israel — to pressure Israel into lifting its blockade on the enclave.

But, unlike Hezbollah, which attacked Israel on March 2, three days after the U.S. and Israeli campaign on Iran, the Houthis had refrained from helping their ally, until Monday.

Their involvement now raises the specter of another squeeze on energy markets already beleaguered by closures on the Strait of Hormuz and which have relied on the Red Sea as an alternative passageway for energy supplies, especially for those from Saudi Arabia.

If the Houthis closed the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, it would all but paralyze commercial flows.

Oil prices spiked in the wake of the exchanges, with Brent Crude rising 5% to hit $98 a barrel, before deflating once more.

Monday’s strikes are the most serious breakdown in a ceasefire marred by repeated fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and clashes between the U.S. and Iran. But up until Sunday there was no direct confrontations between Israel and Iran since the ceasefire took hold.

In recent weeks, Lebanon proved to be a particularly sensitive flashpoint, with Israel continuing attacks in southern Lebanon and its ground troops systematically razing towns and villages. At Trump’s urging, Beirut remained out of bounds, but Israeli military leaders said they would hit the capital if Hezbollah attacked northern Israel.

But that equation proved untenable for Iran.

“Iran’s attack in defense of Lebanon was not merely a military response; rather, it was the formal declaration of a strategic doctrine,” said Sadegh Larijani, who chairs Iran’s Expediency Council, an advisory body to the Iranian Supreme Leader.

Referring to attack Iran launched Sunday, he said, “This action sent a clear message that if one of the sides of the axis of resistance is attacked, it will result in a response beyond geographical borders and will change the equations of the region.”

In Israel, the drawdown of hostilities places additional pressure on Netanyahu, whose political base has repeatedly excoriated him as not doing enough to combat Hezbollah while being too weak to stand up to Trump. Many in Israel view a peace deal without regime change in Iran as a strategic failure; one that is likely to restrain Israel’s ability to attack Hezbollah.

That he launched strikes on Iran in defiance of Trump may win him points ahead of an uphill election fight. Yet it is unlikely to endear him to Trump, who recently scolded Netanyahu during a phone call last week and called him “crazy.”