Cuomo Bucks Tide With Bill to Ease Limits on Abortion
Source: NY Times
ALBANY Bucking a trend in which states have been seeking to restrict abortion, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is putting the finishing touches on legislation that would guarantee women in New York the right to late-term abortions when their health is in danger or the fetus is not viable.
Mr. Cuomo, seeking to deliver on a promise he made in his recent State of the State address, would rewrite a law that currently allows abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy only if the pregnant womans life is at risk. The law is not enforced, because it is superseded by federal court rulings that allow late-term abortions to protect a womans health, even if her life is not in jeopardy. But abortion rights advocates say the existence of the more restrictive state law has a chilling effect on some doctors and prompts some women to leave the state for late-term abortions.
Mr. Cuomos proposal, which has not yet been made public, would also clarify that licensed health care practitioners, and not only physicians, can perform abortions. It would remove abortion from the states penal law and regulate it through the states public health law.
Abortion rights advocates have welcomed Mr. Cuomos plan, which he outlined in general terms as part of a broader package of womens rights initiatives in his State of the State address in January. But the Roman Catholic Church and anti-abortion groups are dismayed; opponents have labeled the legislation the Abortion Expansion Act.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/nyregion/cuomo-bucks-tide-with-bill-to-lift-abortion-limits.html?hp
MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)marybourg
(12,633 posts)Abortion was legalized in N.Y. before Roe v. Wade.
Victor_c3
(3,557 posts)Andrew Cuomo has said numerous times that he wants to make NY a shining example of progressiveness. He is doing a great job on that front.
marybourg
(12,633 posts)a limited one just for killers of cops, corrections officers and inmates, most of which was struck down. I still think of Andrew as a little kid and when I hear "Gov. Cuomo", I'm picturing Mario.
Response to Victor_c3 (Reply #3)
djg21 This message was self-deleted by its author.