The New York State Senate passed the Reproductive Health Act (RHA) this evening by a vote of 38-24, on the 46th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which found that a woman has a constitutional right to abortion. The bill already passed the state assembly by a 92-47 vote.
Once signed by Democratic governor Andrew Cuomo, who has long pushed for expansive abortion-rights legislation, the bill will expand the state’s already liberal abortion regime to allow late-term abortions when “the patient is within twenty-four weeks from the commencement of pregnancy, or there is an absence of fetal viability, or the abortion is necessary to protect the patient’s life or health.”
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The legislation provides a further exception to permit abortion at any point during pregnancy if a health-care practitioner deems it necessary for the mother’s life or health — the exception that was defined in Roe companion case Doe v. Bolton as “all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age — relevant to the wellbeing of the patient.” In other words, abortion will be available to women essentially on demand up to the point of birth. The RHA will also decriminalize abortion, moving it from the state’s criminal code to the public-health code.
Earlier this month, Cuomo said he hopes to put abortion rights on the ballot next year and have expansive protections for abortion, similar to the RHA, written into the state constitution. Here’s more from Katie Yoder’s reporting on the bill at NRO earlier this month:
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/new-york-state-senate-passes-expansive-abortion-bill/Current New York law doesn’t appear to discourage women from abortion at all. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) most recent Abortion Surveillance report, for the year 2015, New York City performed 544 abortions for every 1,000 live births. That means roughly one in three unborn babies are aborted in the city. That also means the New York City’s abortion rate makes up more than half of the city’s birth rate. With the state’s voluntarily reported data, the CDC found that 63,646 abortions occurred in the New York City during 2015, with 32.8 abortions per 1,000 women between the ages of 15 and 44. New York — with the city and state data combined — saw a lower number in 2015. As a whole, New York performed 93,096 abortions total, with 23.1 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age. It counted 392 abortions per 1,000 live births.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law a bill that protects abortion rights in the state.
New York (CNN)On the 46th anniversary of Roe V. Wade, New York state passed a law to protect women's access to abortion if the historic case is overturned.
"Today we are taking a giant step forward in the hard-fought battle to ensure a woman's right to make her own decisions about her own personal health, including the ability to access an abortion. With the signing of this bill, we are sending a clear message that whatever happens in Washington, women in New York will always have the fundamental right to control their own body," said Gov. Andrew Cuomo after signing New York's Reproductive Health Act on Tuesday night.
Not only will the law preserve access to abortions, it also removes abortion from the state's criminal code. This would protect doctors or medical professionals who perform abortions from criminal prosecution. The law also now allows medical professionals who are not doctors to perform abortions in New York.
"The old law had criminal penalties. It was written that the doctor or professional could be held criminally liable," Cuomo said during an interview on WNYC Wednesday.
The law also addresses late-term abortions. Under New York's Reproductive Health Act, they can be performed after 24 weeks if the fetus is not viable or when necessary to protect the life of the mother.
"It's about the health and safety of the mother and it's always been the point where the conservatives wave the flag, they want to roll back Roe v. Wade -- this is not gray here it's black and white," said Cuomo.
The bill was first introduced in 2006 but was blocked for consideration by the Republican-controlled state Senate. With Democrats now in the majority, the bill passed the legislature Tuesday night and was signed into law.
Advocates cheer the new law
"While the administration in Washington continues its assault on women's reproductive rights, the Assembly Majority remains dedicated to fighting for a woman's right to choose. The bills we passed today ensure New Yorkers can control their family planning decisions, have access to the reproductive healthcare they need and will not be discriminated against for their choices. With our new partners in the Senate, we have finally seen this legislation pass both houses and signed into law on the anniversary of the historic Roe v. Wade decision," State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said in a statement.
Critics say the law is too far-reaching
"We need to be honest with the public and say that this bill does not simply codify Roe v. Wade... what this bill does is expand abortion up to birth and the third trimester," State Assembly Rep. Nicole Malliotakis argued before the state legislature. She criticized the part of the law allowing medical professionals other than doctors to perform abortions, saying Roe v. Wade requires a licensed physician perform the procedure. But this law removes that requirement and allows physician assistants, nurse practitioners and midwives to perform abortions.
She also argued that removing abortion from the criminal code would mean that if a fetus died as the result of an assault on a woman there would be no prosecution. "Being assaulted and losing your baby is not a woman's choice," she said.
The New York State Catholic Conference also criticized the law.
"Our Governor and legislative leaders hail this new abortion law as progress. This is not progress. Progress will be achieved when our laws and our culture once again value and respect each unrepeatable gift of human life, from the first moment of creation to natural death. Would that not make us truly the most enlightened and progressive state in the nation?" asked New York's Catholic Bishops, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan, in a statement.
New York State Right to Life told CNN in a statement that it is "Saddened that New York now has what Governor Andrew Cuomo ironically but rightly referred to as 'the most agressive' abortion law in the country.' The Reproductive Health Act (RHA) was sold to the the public saying it merely 'updates' the law by codifying Roe v. Wade into our statute, which is not true."
As for the number of abortions performed in the U.S., that tally varies depending on who is doing the counting. The most accurate number of fetal murders appears to be 60 million plus since Roe v. Wade in 1973. See: 60,069,971 Abortions in America Since Roe v. Wade in 1973
Sodom and Gomorrah
The abortion industry was established as one of the main pillars of Cultural Marxism. The concealed leaders of this global social engineering enterprise knew exactly what they were doing. By convincing millions of people, both women and men, around the world that abortion was a perfectly legitimate form of birth control, they dehumanized a great swath of humanity.
Because Roe v. Wade could be put into jeopardy with the next SCOTUS appointment by President Trump, there is a deafening war cry echoing throughout the depraved Left. They will simply not give up their “Sodom and Gomorrah”. It’s taken the cultural marxists many decades to irreparably tear the social fabric of America via wholesale abortion, and they will not allow it to be abolished.
Cultural Marxism couldn’t be happier with the way that abortion rights, feminist extremism, rampant promiscuity and aberrant LGBT behavior have become the new normal. All of these movements have now converged into one godless political bloc that exerts an enormous massive force in every sphere of life. This political juggernaut can topple any political leader or government official, business magnate or corporate officer, university president or NGO director should they not ally with the odious Cultural Marxism agenda.
ΑΠΟ ΕΔΩ ΞΕΚΙΝΑ Ο ΤΡΙΤΟΣ ΠΑΓΚΟΣΜΙΟΣ
