New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo continued to defend abortion on demand Monday amid calls for him to be excommunicated.
Last week, he signed a radical pro-abortion law to legalize abortions for basically any reason up to birth. Cuomo, who claims to be Catholic, went so far as to threaten to block the budget until the bill passed the legislature.
“The Catholic Church doesn’t believe in a woman’s right to chose. .. I understand their religious view. I’m not here to represent a religion,” the governor said Monday, amid calls for him to be excommunicated, the New York Post reports.
“I’m here to represent all the people and the constitutional rights and limitations for all the people — not as a Catholic,” he continued.
Polls indicate the new law is radically out of touch with most Americans’ views on abortion as well. It allows unborn babies to be aborted for any reason up to 24 weeks and up to birth for “health” reasons, a broad category that includes basically anything.
The law redefines a “person” as “a human being who has been born and is alive,” and describes abortion as a “fundamental right.” The law also removes state protections for infants born alive in botched abortions.
SIGN THE PETITION: Excommunicate Andrew Cuomo for Legalizing Abortions Up to Birth
It poses serious dangers to women’s lives and rights as well. By removing protections from illegal abortions, the law will open the door for abuses. Back alley abortionists, abusive partners or parents and others no longer will face charges for illegally killing an unborn baby – even if the mother wants her child.
Religious leaders of various faiths have condemned the legislation.
New York Catholic Archbishop Timothy Cardinal Dolan criticized the governor for bragging about the “gristly, gruesome” law, according to the Post.
“Do not brag about making the state of New York the abortion capital of the world,” Dolan told Fox News. “That is not an enlightened progressive posture.”
He continued, “Any thinking human being that would want a baby, allow a baby to be aborted right up to the moment of birth… you don’t have to be a Catholic to abhor those types of things.”
Dolan said Cuomo likes being the “bad boy” of the Catholic church.
“We have a governor that uses his dissent from church teachings as applause lines,” Dolan said. “We have a governor that takes quotes from Pope Francis out of context to draw lines between bishops of New York and the Holy Father himself.”
Meanwhile, Jewish leaders with the Coalition for Jewish Values reacted to the law with warnings that euthanasia may be next, Israel National News reports.
Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, a leader of the coalition, said the law strips away protections for pregnant women who are attacked, as well as for unborn babies.
“Just weeks ago, Israel was shocked when a terrorist shot a young expectant mother in her abdomen, leading to the death of her baby,” Pruzansky said. “An entire country mourned for what New York State would have us believe was a matter of no consequence. Under the guise of progressivism, New York is taking us back to a primitive age when infanticide was also accepted — and the fact that these ‘progressives’ want to take up euthanasia next should surprise no one.”
It’s a prediction could become reality in the not too distant future. New York lawmakers are considering a bill to legalize assisted suicide this winter.
