A letter to legislators on the veto

Following is Governor Mitt Romney's message informing the Legislature that he vetoed the emergency contraception bill. To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives:

Pursuant to Part the Second, Chapter I, Section I, Article II of the Constitution of the Commonwealth, I am returning unsigned Senate Bill No. 2073, ''An Act Providing Timely Access to Emergency Contraception."

I promised the people of Massachusetts that as Governor I would not change the laws of the Commonwealth as they relate to abortion. The bill before me would change those laws, and for that reason I am vetoing it. If taken soon enough, the so-called ''morning-after" pill performs as a contraceptive. But in some cases, it can also act to prevent the implantation of the embryo. To those who believe that life begins at conception, the morning-after pill can destroy the human life that was created at the moment of fertilization. Furthermore, this legislation would make the morning-after pill available to young girls without any restrictions on age. Because the morning-after pill can abort the implantation of an embryo, this bill undermines the state's parental consent laws and represents a departure from the public consensus that minor children should not act without parental involvement in these matters.

Respectfully submitted,

Mitt RomneyGovernor