On January 22, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a horrific bill into law. On the 46th memorial of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, Governor Cuomo made several changes to state abortion law, including formally legalizing abortion through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason.
This new law has prolife people everywhere heartbroken. On the very same day of mourning for the 59 million lives lost over tragic U.S. Supreme Court decisions 46 years ago, New York embraced abortion-on-demand with open arms. Days later, a similar bill failed to pass in Virginia. In defense of the bill’s sponsor, embattled Virginia Governor Ralph Northam made a statement condoning infanticide, saying that disabled babies can be born alive and left to die.
Other states with pro-abortion majorities are following suit. Governor Gretchen Whitmer promised to do the same in Michigan, but our prolife majorities in the Legislature prevent that—for now.
These opinions are nothing new. Abortion through all nine months of pregnancy—until the day of birth—is what Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton originally legalized. Roe v. Wade stated that abortions in the third trimester could be banned as long as an exception existed if the woman’s health was in danger, but Doe v. Bolton defined “health” to mean whatever reasons the woman or abortionist wanted: “physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age—relevant to the well-being of the patient.”
Put simply, the Supreme Court legalized abortion at any time and for any reason; states can ban late-term abortions as long as they allow them for any reason.
The purpose of the New York’s new law was simply to ensure that unlimited abortions will continue to be legal in New York when Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton are finally overturned. These laws are simply a defense of the barbaric status quo.
Poor media coverage, elected officials in both parties unwilling to broadly engage the abortion debate, and the refusal of most pro-abortion advocates to plainly state their radical beliefs have blinded many Americans to the gravity of the abortion issue and the extent of its grip on our culture.
How will abortion’s grip be loosened? Only when people look clearly at this life and death issue. Perhaps the silver lining in the recent events in Virginia, New York, and elsewhere is that abortion supporters now must be somewhat more honest than usual.