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Andrew Cuomo’s Abortion Bill Helps Moms Kill Babies

On January 7, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced his intention to create more inclusive abortion policies in the state. With the help of collaborator Hillary Clinton and a new majority-Democratic Senate, Cuomo’s abortion bill promises to increase and expand rights for mothers and help cement the place of Roe v. Wade in the state legislature.

Since 1973, when Roe v. Wade first legalized abortion in this country, Republicans and outspoken conservatives have worked to roll back the protections established by that landmark court battle. Citing the fact that New York was once a place for women to travel from other states to seek help and access to reproductive rights, the state has become more conservative in recent years.

The Democrat-approved Reproductive Health Act is a bill that would legalize late-term abortions, which are currently illegal in New York. Under the terms of Cuomo’s abortion bill, abortions would be able to be performed after the point of viability, which in most states is after the point of 21 weeks. In places where late-term abortions are legal, there are still no more than 1.3% of cases that take place after the 21-week mark.           

Here’s why the bill is so important: Not only is ex-Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton throwing her support behind it, but pro-life leaders and religious authorities are seeing Cuomo’s abortion bill as a way for liberal lawmakers to subtly make it “illegal” to be pro-life or hold pro-life views in New York state. Since Cuomo’s abortion bill won’t be able to be overturned (or at least easily overturned) by Federal law, New York could yet again become a destination for women seeking late-term abortions.           

Cuomo’s platform, at this stage, is about reframing abortion as a constitutional right. With the help of Clinton and a majority-Democratic Senate, he could be close to his goal. Calling it an “unprecedented” opportunity to protect the rights of pro-choice individuals, Cuomo and Clinton spoke about what they view as the urgency of the bill’s passage. If passed, abortion would be erased from the penal code and underwritten as a Constitutional right, make it nearly impossible for individual states to challenge it. The now-39 seats controlled by Democrats in the 63-seat Senate all but assure the bill’s swift adoption into law.        

Pro-life groups, meanwhile, have brought up other concerns. Since abortion is a medical procedure, there’s a concern about it being stricken entirely from the penal code and getting folded into a public health initiative. Religious leaders are also worried about the loss of a viable fetus during a late-term abortion. Though these abortions usually take place to preserve the health of the mother in an emergency situation, Cuomo’s abortion bill intends to rewrite the actual classifications on what constitutes “health concerns.” A leader of the group New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms spoke out about concerns regarding abusive relationships. If abortion is completely de-criminalized, what happens when men are abusing the women they live with, especially in regard to the higher-than-usual chance of physical abuse during pregnancy? The fear, for many, is that the looser laws surrounding abortion could lead to looser penalties for abusers in relationships as well.    

While there are still concerns to be ironed out within Cuomo’s abortion bill, the New York Governor, along with Clinton, is working to fast track the bill inside of 30 days. If the bill does pass, conservatives and pro-life advocates will have to work harder than ever to reverse the terms of Cuomo’s work. If killing babies at the last possible moment before birth becomes a constitutional right, America will be in danger of losing its high moral ground as a leading global force for democracy.

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