** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE **
Contact: Katelyn Billings, Office of Senator Comerford, katelyn.billings@masenate.gov, 413-588-8058
Meaghan Sheeran, Office of Senator O’Connor, meaghan.sheeran@masenate.gov, 617-722-1646 ext. 1709
Anna Linakis, Executive Director, Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, abaker@gbpsr.org, 617-239-1977
Ira Helfand, Co-Founder, Back from the Brink, ihelfand@igc.org, 413-320-7829
August 6, 2026
With Massachusetts State Senate vote, the Commonwealth becomes the sixth state to voice support for a Back from the Brink Resolution calling on federal leaders to embrace the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Following 21 Commonwealth municipalities which have adopted similar resolutions
(Boston, MA) — On July 31, the Massachusetts State Senate became the ninth state legislative body in the nation to pass a resolution calling on its Congressional delegation to support the treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons. (Legislative language linked at bottom.)
Both chambers in the California, Rhode Island, and Oregon legislatures, the Maine State Senate, and the New Jersey Assembly have passed similar language.
The bi-partisan Massachusetts State Senate resolution was presented by State Senator Jo Comerford (D-Northampton) and State Senator Patrick O’Connor (R-Weymouth), and urged support for federal resolutions with similar language.
Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern sponsors H.Res.317, “urging the United States to lead the world back from the brink of nuclear war and halt and reverse the nuclear arms race.” It is co-sponsored by six members of the Massachusetts House delegation. Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey sponsors S.Res.323, which Senator Elizabeth Warren co-sponsors.
“It is extremely important that the Massachusetts Senate has added its voice to the national call for a fundamental change in U.S. nuclear policy. If we don't change course, we are sleepwalking towards a nuclear disaster. The United States must actively pursue the security of a world free of nuclear weapons, not as some distant goal, but as an urgent national security priority. The current moment is particularly dangerous. In the last 15 months, five of the nine nuclear armed states have been actively engaged in warfare with Russia, with the United States threatening their use. This is not a theoretical threat, but a real and present danger,” notes Dr. Ira Helfand, Co-Founder, Back from the Brink.
Anna Linakis, Executive Director, Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, adds, “We are very fortunate to have Senators Comerford and O’Connor in the state legislature, and Congressman Jim McGovern and Senator Ed Markey in Congress. They are providing critically important leadership in the effort to stop the new arms race and move us back from the brink of nuclear war. The United States needs to sit down now with the other eight nations which have nuclear weapons and work out a verifiable, enforceable agreement to eliminate these weapons according to an agreed-upon time line.”
“The Massachusetts Senate passed this Resolution just days before the 81st anniversaries of the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9). States can and should issue calls to action to federal lawmakers when the well-being of their residents is threatened. I am mindful that, in the 1980s, the Commonwealth played a leading role in ending the nuclear arms race with the then Soviet Union by adopting a nuclear freeze resolution and encouraging other states to follow its example. Once again, with Congressman Jim McGovern and Senator Ed Markey in the lead, Massachusetts has come forward to help propel a high-stakes national movement,” said Sen. Jo Comerford (D-Northampton).
"The risk of nuclear conflict transcends politics. While there are different views on the best path forward, we can all agree that reducing the risk of nuclear war and promoting global stability is a priority in the legislature” said State Senator Patrick M. O’Connor (R-Weymouth.) “I was so honored to work with my colleague Senator Jo Comerford on this bipartisan resolution that reflects our shared commitment to encourage thoughtful dialogue and responsible diplomacy. These efforts strengthen both our national security and our collective future. Massachusetts has a long tradition of being a leader on important national conversations, and I am so proud that the Senate has been involved in this one.”
The international Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force as international law on January 22, 2021, has been signed and ratified by 70 countries. The United States is not among them.
The Massachusetts State Senate Resolution, “calls on our federal leaders to embrace the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and to take immediate steps to prevent nuclear war by actively pursuing a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals, renouncing the option of using nuclear weapons first, ending the President of the United States’ sole, unchecked authority to launch a nuclear attack, taking United States nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert and, canceling the plan to replace its arsenal with enhanced weapons, mindful of prioritizing national security.”
The full text of the Resolution passed by the Massachusetts State Senate can be found here.
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Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) is a physician-led non-profit advocacy organization with approximately 1,600 members whose mission is to raise public awareness of the twin existential threats of climate change and nuclear weapons. Our chapter includes experts in public health, cancer epidemiology, occupational medicine, environmental health, emergency medicine, and disaster preparedness.
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