Late-Term Abortions Easier in NY? Gov. Cuomo's Newest Law is 'Harmful,' Says Cardinal Dolan
Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York is expected to introduce legislation soon that would make access to late-term abortions easier for women, even if the mother's life is not in immediate danger.
Cuomo's proposal, while not having been made public yet, is expected to allow licensed health care practitioners the legal ability to perform abortions in a state where currently only licensed physicians are allowed to carry out such a procedure. The new measure is also thought to contain language that would shift oversight away from the state's penal law and shift that power to New York's public health law.
Currently under New York law, a woman can only receive an abortion past 24 weeks if the mother's life is in danger. The suspected proposals would make it easier for a woman to obtain an abortion after the 24 week period regardless if the mother's life is in danger or not.
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The suspected changes to New York law has been met with fierce criticism from those who value the protection of the unborn in a state where nearly 40 percent of all pregnancies end in abortion, which is twice the national average, according to current health statistics.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York and a leading figure for the protection of the unborn, previously wrote to the governor and insisted that the new proposal would do more harm than good.
"I am hard pressed to think of a piece of legislation that is less needed or more harmful than this one," Cardinal Dolan wrote in a published letter to Gov. Cuomo in January.
It should be noted that recent polling data collected by the Pew Research Center shows that while a majority of respondents, 63 percent, supported upholding the Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade, nearly half of those same respondents, 47 percent, said that it was morally wrong to get an abortion. A further 29 percent added that the Supreme Court should strike down Roe v. Wade in order to protect the life of the unborn.
