A new poll shows New York residents oppose the bill New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is promoting that would promote late-term abortions and take pro-life laws off the books.
As pro-abortion advocates continue to push for the so-called “Reproductive Health Act,” a new statewide poll reveals that voters overwhelmingly oppose expanding the state’s abortion laws and, indeed, favor greater restrictions on abortion than what is already in law.
The survey was paid for by the New York City-based Chiaroscuro Foundation and it found that, while a majority of respondents (55 percent) described themselves as “pro-choice,” two out of three (66 percent) said there is sufficient access to abortion in the state. When informed of the actual number of recorded abortions each year (111,000), the number of people who agreed there is sufficient access to abortion rose to 79 percent, with only 7 percent of respondents disagreeing that there is sufficient access to abortion in the state.
The survey, conducted January 27 through January 31, 2013, by McLaughlin and Associates, found that only 17 percent of likely voters approve of unlimited abortion on demand through the ninth month of pregnancy, which would be permissible under the “Reproductive Health Act.” Conversely 80 percent of voters disapprove of such a policy, 61 percent of them strongly.
Among the survey respondents, 47 percent identified themselves as Democrats, 29 percent as Republicans and 22 percent as independents.
In other findings, 92 percent oppose abortion for selecting the sex of a baby and 89 percent oppose abortion for reducing triplets or twins to a single child. Neither of these would be restricted if the Reproductive Health Act’s “fundamental right” to abortion is enshrined in state law.
Further, 75 percent oppose allowing non-doctors to perform abortions (permitted under the proposed abortion expansion plan) and 71 percent oppose forcing Catholic hospitals to allow abortions (permitted under the proposed abortion expansion plan).
When it comes to laws on abortions, 87 percent support providing information about options and risks to pregnant women before they make an abortion decision, 78 percent support a 24-hour waiting period prior to an abortion; and 76 percent support parental notification for minors’ abortions. None of these commonsense regulations overwhelmingly supported by voters would be permitted under the abortion expansion plan.
“These poll results should send a strong message to government officials: New Yorkers, even those who self-identify as ‘pro-choice,’ don’t want more abortion in the state,” said Kathleen M. Gallagher, director of pro-life activities for the New York State Catholic Conference.
Gallagher added: “The public desires prudent and reasonable regulations on the abortion procedure. New Yorkers want abortion to be truly rare. Politicians promoting the radical agenda of groups like Planned Parenthood and NARAL are out of step with everyday New Yorkers, be they Republican or Democrat.”
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The New York Right to Life Committee provided LifeNews with more details on what Cuomo is pushing in the legislature.
The radical abortion bill, the “Reproductive Health Act” would make changes to current NYS law that represent the opinion of only a tiny subset of New Yorkers who hold extremist pro-abortion views. By writing “fundamental reproductive rights” into NYS state law, the bill would provide full legal cover to the tragic and well-entrenched practice of abortion-on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy.
This bill is the product of the extremist pro-abortion lobby that takes exception to reasonable, common sense laws, such as parental consent and limits on government payment for abortions. The advocates of this bill are the same who oppose the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban that the Supreme Court upheld as constitutional in 2007.
S.438 is meant to ensure that the radical abortion industry in New York can continue to thrive without reservation, or common-sense protections for anyone other than abortionists, to address its out of control practice in New York State.
The Reproductive Health Act would, among other things:
- Allow non-physicians to perform abortions;
- Remove criminal penalties even from unlawful abortions;
- Prevent an unborn child who is the intended victim of a crime from being recognized as a victim;
- Prevent any limitation on use of taxpayer funds to curtail New York’s Medicaid policy of paying for abortion-on-demand through all nine months of pregnancy;
- Deceitfully redefine pregnancy as beginning at implantation – not fertilization;
- Falsely redefine fetal (child) viability and
- Unleash new assaults on the consciences of those who oppose participating in abortion – health care professionals, hospitals, hospital residents, and health insurance providers.
