New York Bill Allowing Abortions Up to Birth Says a Person is Only “A Human Being Who Has Been Born”

State   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Jan 16, 2019   |   1:42PM   |   Albany, New York

New York’s leaders are pushing an extreme pro-abortion bill that will strip away all protections for unborn babies and some for mothers, too.

The “Reproductive Health Act” redefines a “person” as “a human being who has been born and is alive,” according to Breitbart.The state bill also describes abortion as a “fundamental right.”

This language will allow unborn babies to be aborted for basically any reason up to birth in New York. It looks like it will pass in the new Democrat-controlled state legislature this winter. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has threatened to hold up the budget until it does.

The legislation goes beyond Roe v. Wade, allowing abortions even when the Supreme Court has said states may regulate them, according to the pro-life leaders. Late-term abortions, which currently are illegal in New York, would be allowed, and non doctors would be allowed to perform them.

The bill appears to restrict late-term abortions, but it adds a broad “health” exception for abortions after 24 weeks. The exception would allow women to abort unborn babies up to nine months of pregnancy for “age, economic, social and emotional factors, rather than the biological definition of ‘health’ that normally comes to mind,” according to New York RTL.

The legislation poses serious dangers to women’s lives and rights as well. By removing protections from illegal abortions, the bill would open the door for abuses. According to New York RTL, back alley abortionists, abusive partners or parents and others no longer would face charges for illegally killing an unborn baby – even if the mother wanted her child.

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“In early December, a resident of Saratoga County was arrested for punching the stomach of a woman who was 26 weeks pregnant in an attempt to cause a miscarriage. The man was charged with abortion in the second degree, but under the RHA, the attacker would not have been charged with a felony,” according to the Catholic News Service.

Protections for babies born alive after botched abortions also would end under the new bill. Additionally, the bill says the state cannot “deny, regulate or restrict” abortions, not even for common-sense reasons such as parental consent for minors, informed consent or limits on taxpayer-funded abortions.

New York State Right to Life predicted the bill will lead to the suppression of pro-lifers’ freedom of speech and conscience as well. Doctors and nurses who refuse to help abort unborn babies could lose their jobs, and pro-life advocates could be persecuted for speaking out for life.

Already one of the most pro-abortion states in America, New York would become even more pro-abortion if the bill passes. In 2016, 82,189 unborn babies were aborted in New York, with about half being taxpayer-funded, according to the local news. Of those babies, 1,763 were at least 20 weeks.

Meanwhile, a new poll indicates this radical pro-abortion legislation is not what Americans want. According to a national poll conducted by Marist University, three in four Americans (75 percent) say abortion should be limited to – at most – the first three months of pregnancy. This includes most of those who identify as Republicans (92 percent), Independents (78 percent) and a majority of Democrats (60 percent). It also includes more than six in 10 (61 percent) who identify as “pro-choice” on abortion.

The Marist Poll follows on the heels of a May 2018 Gallup poll, which found that 53 percent of Americans oppose all or most abortions.

Action: Contact New York state lawmakers.