Liberal New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is vowing not to sign his state’s budget unless the legislature approves a bill that will render abortion up until birth for any reason legal in The Empire State. Cuomo is also encouraging the legislature to make the murder of innocent babies a right guaranteed in the state’s constitution.
During a recent pro-choice speech alongside former first lady Hillary Clinton at Barnard College in Manhattan, New York’s Governor promised not to support the 2019-2020 state budget legislation until the legislature passes both the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act and the Reproductive Health Act. The 61-year-old leader’s vow may stem from Democrats retaking control of the state’s Senate in the 2018 mid-term elections. Cuomo’s pledge also comes after President Donald J. Trump has been working tirelessly to advance pro-life policies.
The Reproductive Health Act states, “Every individual who becomes pregnant has the fundamental right to choose to carry the pregnancy to term, to give birth to a child or have an abortion.” The proposed bill would also remove the heinous act of abortion from the state’s penal code. The pro-choice measure has passed the Democratic-controlled Assembly previously, but has been stalled in the Republican-held Senate for more than a decade. Conservatives have long objected to language in the act that would enable non-physicians to perform late-term abortions.
The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported that the legislature is expected to pass the measure on January 22, 2019. Notably, this day will mark the 46th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion in the United States. New York State Right to Life Campaign posted a warning on Facebook on January 9, 2019.
“As many of you know, the Governor is pushing again for abortion through birth and even after with so-called ‘Reproductive Health Act’ (S.240/A.21) Now he has an anti-Life Democrat-led Senate to help him get it through,” the pro-life group said.
New York State Right to Life revealed in a policy statement that the Reproductive Health Act would contribute to a spike in abortions exposing “mothers to increased dangers by removing protections currently in New York statute.”
Current New York law only permits properly licensed doctors to perform abortions up to the 24th week of pregnancy. However, the egregious Reproductive Health Act would allow any health care practitioner who is licensed to abort a baby as long as he or she acts in “good faith” according to pro-life advocates. New York Right to Life’s policy statement warns, “Supporters of RHA claim it merely seeks to update New York’s laws to make them consistent with Roe v. Wade. This claim is false. The changes this bill would make instead would authorize abortion through all nine months, for any reason, with no restrictions.”
The organization Feminists Choosing Life of New York also opposes the Reproductive Health Act. The group has submitted at least six letters to The New York Times arguing its stance on the legislation. In one of the correspondences, Kelly Brunacini, a member of Feminists Choosing Life of New York’s board of directors, said, “One point of opposition is the heinous legalization of abortion during the second and third trimester of pregnancy through the inclusion of a broad health exception allowing women to abort viable fetuses for essentially any reason; including economic or familial health.”
“The vast majority of Americans, including in New York, oppose these late-term abortions,” she went on. “As a New Yorker, Democrat and feminist, I can’t help but wonder what history will say about a people who allowed the legalized killing of fully formed human beings for the sake of exerting political dominance.”
New York State Right to Life also argues the proposed legislation would prevent illegal abortions from being prosecuted. The group’s statement rightly contended, “This is the opposite of pro-woman.”
Continue to pray for protections for innocent unborn babies in this country and others.
~ 1776 Christian