Last updated on March 9, 2019
By Yvonne Nachtigal
On Jan. 22, the 46th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the New York Senate passed the “Reproductive Health Act,” a radical pro-abortion bill that would allow unborn babies to be aborted up to birth. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called it “a victory for New Yorkers and their progressive values.” Signers of the bill proudly posed for a photo op with smiles on their faces like witches straight out of the Wizard of Oz.
Under the new Reproductive Health Act, non-doctors can perform abortions until the mother’s due date if the woman’s health is endangered or the fetus is not viable. Previously, abortions beyond 24 weeks gestation were only allowed if a woman’s life was at risk.
In celebration of the bill, Cuomo directed that the spire on the One World Trade Center and other NYC monuments be lit in pink to “celebrate this achievement and shine a bright light forward for the rest of the nation to follow.” New York was the first state to legalize abortion.
Cuomo said the action was to counter the current administration’s efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade. “In the face of a federal government intent on rolling back Roe v. Wade and women’s reproductive rights, I promised that we would enact this critical legislation within the first 30 days of the new session — and we got it done,” he said.
The radical bill comes at a time when abortions have fallen to the lowest level since Roe vs. Wade was passed in 1973. A recent poll shows that more Americans than ever are opposed to abortion.
On Jan. 18, only four days before the bill was signed into law, hundreds of thousands of Pro-Lifers marched for life and mourned 60 million abortions in the yearly March for Life at National Mall in Washington D.C. March for Life President Jeanne Mancini called it “the largest human rights demonstration in the world.”
Social media is abuzz with extreme emotional responses from pro-life groups. One man on Twitter compared the appearance of the One World Trade Center’s pink spire to “the needle used to supply the lethal injection to the living unborn child.”
The World Trade Center site is understood to honor the 1,641 innocent people who died on 9/11 and seems an odd place for such a celebration. The symbolism is unsettling, and the event is serving to fuel emotions and divide Americans in an already politically charged climate.
There have been arguments for more than four decades over what point a fetus should be considered a child, but this law considers a fetus to become a baby only once it leaves its mother’s womb. Strong opinions considered, I do not know anyone who, when given the facts about the gruesome nature of late term abortions would find it morally acceptable. We all know of premature babies who grew to become healthy adults.
Abortion advocates are concerned about a woman’s right to choose, but under this bill, the right to live is no longer fundamental.
Laws have a way of opening doors for unexpected things, and I see this one endangering the rights of human beings who are unable to speak for themselves, like the mentally handicapped; those with dementia and children with autism.
While in East Germany under the Nazi regime, a mentally handicapped playmate of my mother’s was taken by soldiers in spite of the desperate cries of his parents. They were told their child was being taken to a “special school.” They never saw their little boy again.
Dr. Martin Luther King recognized the danger of denying the equality of any people group. In my opinion the civil rights of unborn children have been violated in the United States and the recent events in New York bring that into glaring focus. But the picture may be bigger yet. New York’s measure is extreme, leading me to believe it is yet another attempt to escalate tension and divide Americans.
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