New York Governor Spitzer Will Promote Abortion After Supreme Court Ruling 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
April 26, 2007
Albany, NY (LifeNews.com) — Not happy with the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding the national ban on partial-birth abortions, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer says he’s going to do more to promote abortion there. He plans to introduce a bill strengthening the state’s pro-abortion laws.
"Even if the Supreme Court does not understand the law, we do," Spitzer told a NARAL New York luncheon, according to the New York Times. "New York state will continue to be a beacon of civil rights and protection of women’s rights."
New York is one of the handful of states that legalized abortion prior to the high court’s Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 toppling pro-life laws.
Spitzer appears interested in strengthening those laws, which would make it more difficult to prohibit abortions in New York once the Supreme Court reverses itself on Roe. However, his bill may have a tough time getting through the Republican-led state Senate.
Pro-life groups would also lead the charge against the bill and Lori Kehoe, the head of the New York State Right to Life Committee, blasted the governor in an interview with the New York Times.
She called Spitzer "a bully with an insatiable appetite and tunnel vision to accomplish his fierce agenda."
The measure would put a provision on the books allowing abortions in the late-term of pregnancy when the mother’s health is an issue, even though the three-day-long partial-birth abortion procedure is never medically necessary.
His bill would also remove abortion fro the criminal statutes and place it in the medical section of the state code. It would repeal old statutes that make giving nonprescription contraception to minors illegal.
New York’s pro-abortion law was adopted in 1970 and it came after Colorado and Hawaii legalized abortion. The law also made it the first to allow abortions on out of state women.
During the luncheon, Spitzer’s mother Anne, a long-time abortion advocate, received an award.
Related web sites:
New York State Right to Life Committee – https://www.nysrighttolife.org
