Gov. Cuomo is trying to sell New Yorkers a bill of goods about his abortion legislation — claiming it would just codify federal law. That’s a lie.
The governor and his allies say the bill would merely align state law with Roe v Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision.
Yet Roe — which effectively constitutionalized abortion on demand up until birth — is no longer the governing federal case on abortion. In 1992, Casey v. Planned Parenthood substantially altered the landscape by explicitly allowing states to impose some sensible restrictions on abortion.
AP
Cuomo: Not aligning NY with federal law.
Casey allows requirements such as parental notification, waiting periods and informed consent — all of which are extremely popular in New York even among pro-choice voters. Under the guise of “codifying” Roe, Cuomo’s bill would preclude these common-sense restrictions.
If the governor wanted to truly codify federal law on abortion, he might find more support than he thinks. Unfortunately, his abortion-expansion plan proposes nothing of the sort.
Codifying federal abortion law would require, for example, passage of a Born Alive Infants Protection Act, which would prevent butchers like Kermit Gosnell from snipping the necks of newborns who survive botched abortions. Such a humane provision is opposed by NARAL and Planned Parenthood, though; they think the murder of a newborn should be permissible.
Codifying federal law would also require the passage of an Unborn Victims of Violence Act, which would ensure that a man can be charged with murder if he attacks a pregnant woman and kills her unborn child. Cuomo’s allies would prevent such an attacker from facing that murder charge.
Codifying federal law would also require the passage of a Hyde Amendment, which would outlaw state funding for abortion through Medicaid. New York now pays for abortion through Medicaid, but according to a recent survey, 78 percent of New Yorkers think we should stop.
In short, Cuomo is not out to codify federal law, but to codify Roe v. Wade, which we, as a civil society, have moved beyond. His proposal aims to fulfill NARAL and Planned Parenthood’s desires to eliminate any possibility of regulation of abortion — putting New York in the camp of North Korea and China, which have unrestricted-abortion regimes like that proposed by the governor and his allies.
Civilized countries like France and Germany restrict abortion after 12 weeks. And in case you might be inclined to believe NARAL’s absurd claim that this is all about women’s health, both of those countries have lower maternal mortality rates than the United States.
Gov. Cuomo’s abortion plan is not about women’s health or equality. It’s about a radical ideology — and an industry — that can’t rest until every abortion up to the moment of birth is considered a fundamental human right which can never be transgressed. This, when New York already has the highest abortion rate in the nation.
Thank goodness for courageous politicians in the state Senate who refuse to be bullied by the extreme ideologues at NARAL.
Greg Pfundstein is president of the Chiaroscuro Foundation.
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