Don’t hold Women’s Act hostage

To the Editor:

Unfortunately, the Women’s Equality Act will allow pregnancies to be terminated “up to and through the ninth month of pregnancy for any reason.” 

Since 1970, abortions have been banned in New York State after 6 months (Article 125 Penal Law)  except to save the life of the mother. But Governor Cuomo’s bill would repeal that law and put in its place a “health exception.” According to the Doe v. Bolton Supreme Court decision — the companion to Roe v. Wade — “the medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age — relevant to the well-being of the patient. All these factors may relate to health.” And they will permit abortion for any reason.

With regard to non-doctors being allowed to perform abortions, the Penal Law provision that abortion must be performed “by a duly licensed physician,” will be repealed by Governor Cuomo’s bill and the new law says nothing about who can do abortions. 

If a woman’s pregnancy really must be ended in the third trimester, the safest solution is a C-section, which only takes a few minutes.  A third trimester abortion takes up to several days and results in a dead baby and sometimes a dead mother, like the young woman from White Plains who traveled to Maryland to abort her baby last February.  The abortionist Leroy Carhart was not available when she tried to reach him when complications developed after the abortion.

We have over 97,000 abortions in New York State every year. Obviously, New York women are not having a hard time getting abortions, so why is Gov. Andrew Cuomo holding the other parts of the Women’s Equality Act hostage in order to make abortion more available?

Barbara Meara